Oltre a Vita e Morte
by White-Knight-1988
Summary: When an evil ten-thousand years old arrives on Earth to punish those who had served Zordon, sixteen Rangers are put in a situation that no monster battle could have prepared them for; a situation that goes beyond life and death.
1. The End of Everything

**A/N 1: To keep those of you who have finished "Self-Destruct" up to speed; yes, there will be a sequel, but it's still a ways down the road.**

**A/N 2: Just as a warning to all of you, this story will be **_**extremely**_** violent, more so than anything I've written before, and likely more so than anything anyone else has written before, too.**

**Timeline: Late 2007, two months after the events of Operation Overdrive.**

**"To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day."**** – Sir Winston Churchill**

**"The Fear of Death often proves Mortal, and sets People on Methods to save their Lives, which infallibly destroy them."**** – Joseph Addison**

--

_Oltre a Vita e Morte_

_Chapter One – The End of Everything_

_Original Posting Date: July 6, 2008_

To most people, ten thousand years would sound like an awfully long time, far too long for any one person to be alive. However, for the one who had been imprisoned by the legendary Zordon of Eltar over ten millennia ago it seemed like little more than a nap; a very long, extended nap, with plenty of time to make plans for what he would do to Zordon if he was ever freed from his life of imprisonment.

Being sealed within a hyper-locked chamber at the hands of Eltar's master wizard was no fun experience, but his retribution would be more than worth it in the end. It had been nearly six years since the Ninja Storm Power Rangers had overloaded the Abyss of Evil, unknowingly freeing him from his prison; he'd used those six years wisely, in constant preparation for the day when he would finally have his revenge against Zordon.

Standing in at just over six feet tall with waist-length black hair that flowed about his black and gold tunic and the darkest eyes the universe had ever seen, the man in question was known only as Pravus. Simply put, he had been the most supreme evil in the entire universe ten thousand years ago, and would have still reigned today if Zordon hadn't finally been able to stop him. Pravus had been disappointed when he heard that his old rival had sacrificed himself to save a third-class world called Earth; such a foolish sacrifice it was, and now the planet's protectors would have to be the ones that paid for Zordon's mistakes.

His sights had been set on Earth for some time now, plenty long enough for Pravus to establish a fair assessment of the planet's defenses. Outside of a handful of humans known as the Power 

Rangers, no one on Earth had the capability to even put up a decent fight against him. The planet wasn't even worth conquering, but its defenders? That was a different story. They had either served Zordon or followed his teachings, and for that they would have to suffer.

He moved from one city to another in the blink of an eye. One moment he was in New York City, the next moment, Tokyo; London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Paris, San Francisco, Mexico City, Toronto…he was everywhere and he was nowhere. There wasn't a radar system on Earth that would be strong enough to detect his movements.

When he'd finished visiting every one of Earth's major cities in less than ten minutes, he decided that the time had come to draw the Power Rangers out of their hiding places. Walking through a crowded, mid-afternoon New York City, he stopped in front of the Empire State Building. By the time he had arrived in Paris a few moments later the fifteen-hundred foot structure had already started to crumble.

Half a dozen skyscrapers in the La Défense business district of downtown Paris were the next to fall; Sydney Tower and the Sydney Opera House in Australia soon followed. The Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo was split in half, causing hundreds of vehicles to plummet into their watery graves at the bottom of Tokyo Bay. In downtown Los Angeles, U.S. Bank Tower now lay in ruins, taking half of a city block with it on the way down. Pravus left chaos everywhere he went, mercilessly killing in excess of one million innocent civilians in his wake.

It only took a few minutes before television and radio stations all over the world were reporting on the massive amount of destruction that was taking place, with no clue whatsoever as to what was causing it to happen. Then the world suddenly seemed to die; from the smallest apartment to the largest skyscraper, not one building on the entire planet had power. Moments later, by Pravus' design, every television and radio on Earth started to flicker back to life, all tuned to the same station.

For those in front of a television they could see for themselves the man that was responsible for the greatest massacre in Earth's long and storied history. Those with only a radio were forced to imagine the owner of the booming voice calling out to them, making it all the more horrific. The world was in the palm of his hand, crumbling, and there was only one group of people that had the ability to bring an end to it.

Standing atop the highest point of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, a wry grin spread across Pravus' lips, his face taking up the majority of the various television screens that were currently displaying his image. He spoke loudly and firmly, somehow in dozens of different earthen languages. His voice demanded the utmost respect; refusal to cooperate with that would not be taken lightly.

"_Attention citizens of Earth, my name is Pravus. As you can see, I have decided that your planet was in need of a little…redecorating. I do not wish to cause any more harm to the innocents of _

_this world; my only desire is to see justice properly served. Ten thousand years ago I was locked away, imprisoned in a hyper-locked chamber by a being known as Zordon. Most of you will not recognize this name, but he is the reason that you are all alive today. He is also the one who single handedly created Earth's first teams of Power Rangers. I am here because they are the ones who must pay for the error of Zordon's ways."_

"_Power Rangers, I know you are out there, so listen up. You have one standard hour to show yourselves at the place where your history began. If you have not arrived within the time I have allotted, I will obliterate this planet entirely. The choice is yours, Power Rangers; you can stand up and fight for what you believe in, or watch as the planet you have defended bravely for so many years meets its demise. Your time is ticking…what will it be?"_

Millions of televisions and radios turned to static briefly, and then everything was back to normal again, or as close to normal as could be expected for a planet that had just lost well over a million of its citizens. All over the world, people had begun to go crazy. Stores were being looted relentlessly; fights broke from out of nowhere; kidnapping, rape, murder…the planet had been reduced to absolute chaos.

At the center of it all were the Power Rangers. Regardless of where they lived or if they were even affiliated with their old teams anymore, nearly one hundred former Power Rangers had heard Pravus' warning. Some decided to fight without question, some pondered whether or not they should go, and some just flat out refused to even think about it coming out of retirement.

Disappearing from his perch on the Golden Gate Bridge, Pravus arrived on the outskirts of a small, southern California town called Angel Grove. It was there that he would spend the remaining fifty-eight minutes of the Ranger's time, patiently waiting their arrival and, eventually, their demise.

--

It was times like these where Tommy Oliver was thankful that his connections in the Power Ranger community ran so deeply. Since Pravus' message had aired ten minutes ago, Tommy had been in contact with at least one member from every Ranger team. He was disappointed when most of the former Rangers admitted that they weren't going to Angel Grove, either because of personal reasons or because they couldn't have made it in the hour timeline that Pravus had given them. Still, he'd been somewhat expecting it to be this way. In his experience, the Rangers that hadn't served under Zordon just didn't hold the same respect for their duties that Zordon's Rangers did.

Even then, though, only three of Zordon's Rangers, himself included, had decided to come. Most of them had families now, lives that couldn't be put aside to parade around the world in spandex again. Tommy understood where they were coming from, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Truth be told, the small number of Zordon's former Rangers en route to Angel Grove was more 

than a little discouraging; Tommy wanted to be angry with them, but there just wasn't enough time for that.

Using one hand to hold his cell phone and the other to steer his Jeep, Tommy remained focused on the dirt road in front of him but he was still aware of the fearful expression on the face of his companion. Subconciously, Tommy looked at his left ring finger for just the briefest of moments, his eyes settling on the simple, white gold wedding band that he'd been wearing for just over a year now.

Words could not explain how much it had meant to Tommy when his wife been the one to volunteer their services upon seeing Pravus' message. Now more than ever they needed to present a united front, if for no other reason than to let the people of Earth know that the Rangers would fight to the death if it was necessary to keep the planet safe.

For many miles the pair drove in silence except for when Tommy was on the phone with another one of the Rangers. Occasionally, Tommy would look to his right and sneak a glance at his wife, trying to gauge her reaction to what was happening. She looked relaxed and composed one moment, fearful and tense the next. This was the first time in all the years he had known her that he wasn't able to get a read on her. It quickly got to the point where not knowing what she was thinking really started to bother Tommy.

"What's wrong, Beautiful?" asked Tommy softly, hanging up the phone.

Kimberly Hart-Oliver looked to her husband and scoffed. "You mean outside of the fact that we're about to go up against a guy capable of destroying entire cities in the blink of an eye and we don't even have any powers?" she replied, shaking her head. "Outside of that, nothing is wrong, Tommy."

"Kim, I didn't make you come and I wouldn't have held it against you if you chose to stay behind, but you volunteered yourself for this. If you're not up for it, let me know now and I'll take you home, 'cause once I hit the freeway, I'm not turning back."

Oh, how infuriating he was some times. Why couldn't he see that now wasn't exactly the most appropriate of times to start an argument? Why couldn't he realize that every ex-Ranger _wasn't_ a carbon copy of himself? Not every former Ranger was an adrenaline junkie who got a rush by being in the proverbial eye of the hurricane.

"I don't want you to turn back," Kimberly snapped angrily. "I want you to at least try and understand what I'm going through right now. This isn't easy for me, you know. I haven't been a Ranger for damn near thirteen years! And let's not even mention that I haven't thrown a single punch or kick since I left Angel Grove!"

Tommy sighed helplessly. When it came to being Power Rangers, he and Kimberly were cut from two very different molds. She appreciated her past as a Ranger; it was something she held 

near and dear to her heart, but she didn't constantly miss it like Tommy did. Sure, there were times where she daydreamed about how fun it would be to be able to hop into her Crane Zord again and pilot it daringly across the skies, but those were just subconscious recollections of a time in her life that had ended a long time ago.

If she was honest with herself, the only reason she volunteered to go was because she knew how truly disappointed Tommy would be if she had opted to stay in Reefside. He could say that he would have understood if she had made that decision, but Kimberly had known him long enough to tell when he was trying to lie to her.

And if Kimberly was even more honest with herself, she wouldn't have been able to stay behind even if she had wanted to. A second chance with Tommy wasn't what Kimberly had been looking for when she accepted a position teaching English at Reefside High School. She knew that Tommy taught there—they'd been on friendly terms since the shortly after the events on Murianthis—but the romance that had ensued was unexpected to say the least. In fact, it couldn't have been more accidental if it had been scripted.

Looking back two-and-a-half years ago, Tommy had to smile when he recalled the circumstances under which his relationship with Kimberly was given another shot at life. His friend and colleague, Anton Mercer, had given Tommy two tickets to the Major League Soccer Association's championship game between the Reefside Wave and the visiting Thundering Herd of Silver Hills. Tommy had planned on taking best friend, Jason Scott, but those plans had fallen through at the last minute when Jason had gotten called in to work.

With no one else to take, Tommy put the other ticket up for sale on an online auction site. He'd priced it at face value, two-hundred and forty dollars, but when bidding had come to an end the highest bid was for well over a thousand. He could still remember the look in Kimberly's eyes when she sat down next to him.

"_Oh, you are __**so**__ buying dinner," Kimberly commented, settling into her seat._

"_Kim?" asked Tommy, chuckling in disbelief. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were a soccer fan."_

"_Are you kidding? I love soccer. I played competitively until I was thirteen, but it eventually got to the point where school started to get harder and I just couldn't juggle two year-round sports at the same time. I had to choose between gymnastics and soccer; obviously, you know which one I picked."_

_Tommy nodded his head, absentmindedly wondering how that little nugget of information had managed to slip by him in all the years that he had known Kimberly. "I had no idea. You never mentioned it before."_

"_You never asked," Kimberly retorted, leaving Tommy trapped in a state of awkward silence. It was true; he'd never really thought to ask if Kimberly was into any sports other than gymnastics. He'd just assumed that it was the only sport she enjoyed. When the silence started to get painful, she decided to throw him a rope. "So, __**Doctor**__ Oliver, what are you buying me for dinner?"_

"_I wasn't aware that a free meal was included with the purchase of the ticket, __**Ms.**__ Hart," Tommy deadpanned._

"_For eleven-hundred dollars, it better be."_

"_Hey, it was a thousand and eighty-six; and I didn't make you bid that high. Besides, are you saying that my company isn't worth eleven hundred dollars?"_

"_No, I'm saying that mine is at least worth a hot dog and a beer," Kimberly returned, grinning._

_Tommy smirked back at her. "So if I buy you dinner, is this considered a date?"_

"_Do you want it to be?"_

"_Do you?"_

"_I don't know, yet. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess," Kimberly answered honestly, giving Tommy a wink._

_Tommy seemed to think about her answer for a moment. "Hot dog and a beer, huh? Well, at least it's up there with one of the cheapest dates I've gone on," he laughed, earning an eye roll from Kimberly._

"_It's not a date…yet," Kimberly added, pushing Tommy towards the stairs that lead to the concourse and concession stands. As he started up the stone steps, she called out to him. "By the way, when I say 'hot dog' I mean a bratwurst with sauerkraut and onions, and when I say 'beer' I mean the biggest cup of microbrew in the stadium. How's that for cheap?"_

Merging onto the freeway, Tommy reached out and took hold of Kimberly's hand, running his thumb along the top of her matching ring. She looked over at him and smiled, unable to resist how lost she became when she gazed into his chocolate brown eyes. At twenty-nine years of age, hardly the naïve young woman she'd been in high school, his eyes still captivated her the same way they had when she was fifteen.

"Remember the soccer game?" asked Tommy, squeezing her hand gently.

"How could I forget? I let you kiss me with onion-breath," Kimberly replied, fondly recalling their second first kiss. At the time, she'd lived close enough to the stadium to walk but it was almost midnight when the game finally let out and Tommy had steadfastly refused to let her walk home. Upon arriving at her apartment in his Jeep, Tommy walked Kimberly to her door and 

that's when it happened; it had been just one kiss at her doorstep, but it was long, filled with a passion that both their lives had been missing for some time.

"Hey, I resent that! As I recall, _your_ breath tasted like sauerkraut and beer, little lady. Not to mention ice cream, peanuts, licorice, and garlic fries; all of which I bought for you, by the way."

"Details, details, details," Kimberly returned, laughing. Her eyes were focused on Tommy as he moved to answer his phone; it was only her peripheral vision that saved them from colliding with a deer standing in the center lane of Interstate Five. "Tommy, look out!" she screamed.

Tommy looked up just in time to see the deer's wide, ignorant brown eyes staring back at them in the yellow glow of the Jeep's headlights. Swerving to the left, he narrowly avoided the creature whose face was mere inches from Kimberly's window as the black Jeep sped passed the deer. "Whew, that was close. Thanks," he murmured, waiting for his heartbeat so slow down before he answered his phone. Seeing the name on the Caller Identification screen, he smiled brightly. "Talk to me, babe."

"_You guys on your way?_" asked a husky, deep, male voice.

"Yeah, we're on Five right now. We should be there in twenty or thirty minutes," Tommy answered, reading the sign that told him how many miles away they were from Los Angeles, Angel Grove, and San Diego, in that order. "Be ready, man. By the time we get there, we're already going to be strapped for time."

"_Let me ask you something, bro; when have you ever known me to __**not**__ be ready?"_

Tommy chuckled, no room for argument. "Good point. Alright, Jase, we'll see you in a few."

"_Later, T."_

"He's coming?" Kimberly asked as soon as Tommy had returned his cell phone to his pocket.

Nodding his head, Tommy gave the Jeep a little more gas; pushing it to well over ninety miles per hour, he maneuvered the car in and out of late night traffic with expert precision. "Did you expect anything else?"

"No, I guess not," Kimberly replied quietly, sliding down in her seat a bit. She could hardly believe it when Tommy guided the Jeep around a bend in the highway, his sleeves riding up just enough to reveal a black and gold bracelet strapped to each wrist. "You gotta be kidding me. You've got some nerve, you know that?"

"Huh?" asked Tommy, confused.

Rolling her eyes, Kimberly pointed to his Zeonizers, the devices he had once used to transform into Zeo Ranger Five, Red. "Why would you go and do something boneheaded like that?"

"Like what?" Tommy questioned, still not understanding why she was making such a big deal about the Zeonizers.

"Bringing those things!" snapped Kimberly, her voice biting. "What was going through your head when you decided to dig those out? Wait, I can answer that for you." Continuing, she dropped her voice as deep as it would go to imitate Tommy. "Duh, I big dumb man, me think only about myself instead of safety of wife, wife that hasn't been Power Ranger since Clinton Administration," she added, shaking her head. "Jesus Christ, Tommy. How could you bring those and make me go in there by myself without powers?"

Opening his mouth to reply, Tommy furrowed his brow and sealed his lips. He didn't really have a good answer for that. In the rush to leave Reefside, he'd simply grabbed the Zeonizers by force of habit; he hadn't meant to leave Kimberly hanging, but that didn't excuse it either. Sighing, he held the steering wheel with one hand while using his teeth to unstrap one of the Morphers. When they'd both been removed he extended them to Kimberly. "Put 'em in the glove box."

Kimberly took the Zeonizers from Tommy but said nothing to him as she placed the devices inside the requested compartment. She appreciated that he had removed his Zeonizers, but that didn't excuse the fact that he had brought them in the first place. And though she wanted to be mad at him, she was also aware that they were about to once again put their lives on the line.

The possibility of death was a constant risk for anyone who donned the brightly colored spandex uniform. If one or both of them was going to die today, Kimberly refused to let it be on bad terms. Tommy constantly pushed her buttons, drove her up wall after wall, but that never once stopped Kimberly from loving him more than anything else on Earth.

"I'm sorry I called you a big dumb man," Kimberly murmured, turning in her seat to face him.

Sparing his attention from the road for a moment, Tommy looked in her direction and chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry for being selfish. I love you, Kim, and I hope you know that I would never intentionally put you in harm's way."

"I know. I love you, too," Kimberly replied, stealing a quick kiss as they passed another mileage marker. Next exit: Angel Grove.

--

Long, black dreadlocks flew wildly about the face of a young African-American man as he sprinted at full speed through the brightly lit streets of New Tech City, his legs burning from being pushed to their absolute limits. The year was 2027, but that was rather irrelevant. The arrival of Pravus had transcended time; his message had played to those in the future as well as the citizens of the present.

For Jack Landors, former B-Squad Red Ranger of Space Patrol Delta, this was his second chance. He'd left the Rangers in good hands, with his friend and teammate, Schuyler "Sky" Tate, but when he saw the way Pravus rampaged the Earth it had ignited a fire in Jack's belly that had burned out well over two years ago. His longtime girlfriend, Ally, had been furious with him when he had made the decision to return to the Delta Base with the hope that there was still a place for him at SPD.

She'd told him if he left to not come back; a single tear had slid down Jack's cheek as he exited their apartment, silently wishing that she could understand why he had to do this. Whether he was active or not was unimportant. He couldn't ignore the call when the world needed protecting, even if that meant having to leave Ally behind.

The glowing lights of the Delta Base loomed up ahead in the distance. Forcing himself to run even harder, Jack cursed his luck when it suddenly started to rain down on him. He was less than two blocks from the base, but it was raining so hard that by the time he plowed through the front door of the Delta Base he was soaked to the bone. Ignoring the two young F-Squad cadets that were manning the front desk, Jack made a beeline for the elevators, ever thankful that Commander Cruger had allowed him to keep the key card granting Jack access to the Ranger-level of the building, just in case.

As he rode the elevator to the twenty-second floor, Jack tapped his foot in nervous anticipation, unconsciously picking at his long hair. When the doors opened up a few moments later he was greeted by the imposing form of Sky Tate, curiously missing the red piping on the mostly-black uniform that was standard for SPD's Rangers. He stood with his arms folded across his chest, wearing a stoic expression as he seemingly sized Jack up. Then Sky suddenly smiled, extending his hand to the man who had once been his leader.

"Welcome back," said Sky, shaking Jack's hand firmly.

"It's good to be back," commented Jack, thankful that there was no animosity between him and Sky. Though, why would there be? Sky's childhood dream had been to be the Red Ranger, just like his father before him, and he'd finally gotten that opportunity when Jack left SPD. Stepping out of the elevator, Jack's eyes began to wander in every direction imaginable as he tired to reacquaint himself with the first place that he had ever truly been able to call home.

"I take it you've already heard about this Pravus guy, am I right?" asked Sky. Jack nodded in confirmation as the larger man gestured for them to begin walking. "Then I think it's safe to assume why you're here."

"I want to help," Jack answered, reaffirming that which Sky was already aware of.

Making their way through the Delta Base, the pair came to halt outside of the old briefing room. Though the doors were sealed, Jack could still picture vividly what the interior looked like; he 

remembered everything about SPD, as if he'd been gone two days instead of two years. Sky almost seemed sad as he turned his head to Jack. "If it was up to me, the Red Morpher would be yours in a heartbeat, but Bridge is the Red Ranger now, and I can't demote him just because you decided that you want to come back."

"Wait, what? _Bridge_ is Red Ranger?" asked Jack incredulously.

Sky chuckled. "I forgot how long you've been away. When Fowler retired, Commander Cruger took over as SPD's Supreme Commander, I was promoted to Cruger's old position, and Bridge was made Red Ranger.

"Wow," Jack murmured, slowly shaking his head in disbelief. "I really have missed out on a lot, haven't I? Hopefully not two newbies taking the Blue and Green Morphers, though," Jack added, Sky shaking his head.

"Not yet, at least. We've got a couple of C-Squad cadets we're looking at possibly promoting to B-Squad, but that's still a few months down the road, if at all," Sky answered. Pressing his palm to a device next to the briefing room door, he waited until the fingerprint scan was complete and the doors had opened before turning back to Jack. "Look, we'll have plenty of time to catch up later, but we have less than half-an-hour before Pravus expects the Rangers to show themselves. Right now, we need to worry about getting you and Bridge suited up and ready to go."

"Just me and Bridge?" asked Jack, following Sky into the familiar room where Bridge was already waiting for them. "What about Syd and Z? Where are they?"

"Undercover mission on Gamma Repulsa," Bridge answered as he moved from where he stood, leaning against a computer console, to greet his former teammate. Standing face-to-face with each other, the two men smiled as they shook hands and shared a half-hug. "It's good to see you again, Jack."

"Good to see you too, man," Jack replied, slapping Bridge's shoulder playfully.

Behind them, Sky cleared his throat loudly, bringing the attention of the two old friends back to him. Sky pointed to a nearby wall, Jack's eyes following the finger until his eyes settled on two Delta Morphers, one blue and one green/ Nodding his understanding, Jack crossed the room; staring at the two Morphers, he tried to decide which one to take. He held one in each hand, weighing them as if he expected there to be a discrepancy. In the end, the only thing Jack had accomplished was realizing that neither of the Morphers felt the same in his hands as the Red Delta Morpher had.

He knew that Bridge and Sky were watching him, waiting for him to make a decision, but he simply couldn't. Gripping the edge of the steel table Jack kept his head bowed, his dreadlocks concealing his face as he stared at the Morphers; then came the soft sound of metal meeting 

metal. Turning his head, Jack's eyes widened when he saw the Red Delta Morpher resting atop the steel table, inches away from his hand.

Hesitating, he allowed his fingers to gently caress the Morpher's cool, metal surface. Oh, how much he would have loved to wield the Red Ranger powers again, but that was Bridge's position now. Picking up the Morpher, he held it out to Bridge. "I appreciate the offer, man, but I can't take this."

"Why not?" asked Bridge in confusion. "It's not like I'm giving it back to you permanently. I expect it back when we're done with this Pravus character. Besides, it was yours before it was mine," he added, picking up the Blue Delta Morpher. "I can deal with being Blue again, at least for a little while."

Jack swallowed hard. "A-are you sure?"

"Positive," Bridge answered, giving his friend a confirming nod.

"Thank you, Bridge," Jack replied, shaking his head. "Seriously, man, I-I really don't know what to say."

Bridge just smiled in a way that only Bridge could do; his grin was as goofy and lopsided as it was equally comforting. "You don't have to say anything. I don't know what to say, either. Or rather, I _wouldn't_ know what to say, either. Or is it the other way around?"

Laughing heartily, Jack shook his head as he clapped Bridge on the shoulder. "Bridge, my man, it doesn't even matter. It doesn't even matter."

In the short time he'd been back in the Delta Base, Jack had already begun to realize how much he had missed this camaraderie, the level of brotherhood that only SPD had ever been able to provide for him. It hadn't taken long for him to start giving serious consideration to asking Sky for his place on the team back, even if that meant having to be blue or green.

"Well, now that that's settled, let's get you guys acquainted with the Delta Ship," Sky interjected, gesturing for Bridge and Jack to follow him as he made his way out of the briefing room and into the hallway.

"Delta Ship, huh? Is that something else I've missed out on?" asked Jack curiously. Judging by the look on Bridge's face, Jack wasn't the only one who didn't know what this new Delta Ship was about.

"Not quite," Sky answered, shaking his head as he walked with arms folded behind his back. "Production of the Delta Ship was kept strictly Eyes-Only. Outside of Cruger and I, no one but the production crew—who all had to sign life-bonded confidentiality contracts—even knows about it, yet."

"What's so special about it?" Bridge queried.

Holding up his hand, the trio came to a stop in front of a long, black wall. Dipping his hand into his pocket, Sky extracted a white, handheld device; placing it up against the wall, he turned back to Bridge and Jack with a sly grin. "See for yourself," he answered. Pressing the only button on the device, the wall suddenly disappeared, revealing a sleek, black space craft with the SPD logo and the words _Delta Ship I_ emblazoned on both sides. "Guys, let me be the first to introduce you to the Delta Ship, the first space craft in the entire universe that's capable of both time and inter-dimensional travel."

"Woah!" exclaimed Bridge and Jack in tandem, looking up at the ship in awe.

"How do we use it?" asked Jack, shifting his attention from the ship to Sky.

"Leave that to me. You guys just get inside and get yourselves strapped in. I'll take care of the rest," Sky answered, Bridge and Jack nodding their understanding. "Bridge, Jack, best of luck to you. I expect to see you both back here in one piece, is that understood?"

Standing at attention as they had done for Commander Cruger so many times, Bridge and Jack shared a silent look with one another and smirked. "_Sir_, yes, _sir_, Commander Tate, _sir_!" they yelled, saluting Sky with smiles that went from cheek to cheek.

Rolling his eyes as he slowly shook his head from side to side, Sky couldn't help but to let a tiny chuckle escape his lips. Looking back on the last two years, he had to admit that things had changed drastically when Jack left. In some ways, Jack, who was always so calm and level-headed, was the glue that had held the team together. It just wasn't the same without him there.

Secretly, Sky was hoping that Jack eventually asked for his place on the team back; not only would it save him the hassle of promoting and training a new Ranger, but the five of them would finally be together again. Remembering that Bridge and Jack still had a job to do, Sky suddenly grew serious again, wiping the smile away from his face. "You're dismissed, Rangers," he spoke, nodding to both men. "Good luck."

Returning the gesture, Bridge and Jack turned their backs to Sky and started off towards the Delta Ship. A few minutes later they were in the cockpit, strapped safely into their seats as they waited patiently for Sky. Soon enough, Sky's voice entered the cockpit, telling the Rangers what he was going to do. Shortly after that, the ship's engines came to life, roaring louder than anything they'd ever heard before.

As the ship slowly started to elevate, the ceiling began to split in half; once in the sky, the ship rocketed forward, leaving Bridge and Jack gripping their shoulder straps tightly while they screamed like little babies.

--

Flying down the freeway in a dark blue Ford Explorer, the four occupants of the vehicle in question would be lucky if they made it to Angel Grove in time. In the front seats were two men in their late twenties wearing matching, navy blue uniforms; the red beret atop the driver's head and the navy cap his passenger wore were the only things separating them from one another. For Wesley Collins and Eric Myers, not making it to Angel Grove on time wasn't an option that either was willing to consider.

Behind the pair, two women bounced along in the backseat, holding on for dear life as Wes fearlessly executed moves that no SUV should have been able to make. Seated directly behind him was his wife of almost five years, Jennifer Scotts. Shortly after the Time Force Rangers had returned to help the Wild Force team defeat the Mut-Orgs, Jen had revealed that her former fiancée, Alex, was giving her the option to remain in the year 2002 with Wes.

"_When we first met, I was afraid of you; afraid of what you stood for and the person I thought you were. But the more I got to know you, the more I realized that the only thing I was afraid of was myself," Jen had said to Wes through tear-filled eyes as they stood hand-in-hand at the altar a year later. "You've taught me so many things, Wesley Andrew Collins, but the one thing I'll never be able to forget is that we all control our own destinies. Today proves that. I love you more than anything, and I couldn't be happier that my destiny includes you."_

Her eyes still brimmed with tears when she thought of that day. That they were actually married was a minor miracle in itself, and hadn't truly set in for almost three days after the wedding. Looking back on the last six years of her life, she couldn't even begin to imagine what they would have been like if Wes hadn't been there with her. Probably pretty terrible, just like it had been every other time they were unwillingly forced to go their separate ways.

The decision to answer Pravus' message had been made both silently and simultaneously. Unlike Tommy and Kimberly, Wes and Jen were the spitting image of each other as Rangers. Neither had given the slightest consideration to not leaving Silver Hills for Angel Grove. They had already been en route to Eric's apartment when he called, asking if they would pick him up on their way.

Had it not been for the pit stop in Turtle Cove to retrieve Eric's longtime, on-again-off-again girlfriend and former Yellow Eagle Wild Force Ranger, Taylor Earhardt, making it to Angel Grove in time wouldn't have been an issue. The blonde woman kept a hand on Eric's shoulder at all times, an unusual show of affection from the couple that was the complete polar opposite of Wes and Jen. Eric and Taylor constantly bickered with each other; verbal arguments constantly turned into full-on displays of martial arts, with Taylor winning those bouts just as often as Eric did. They'd go weeks at a time without speaking to each other only to get back together because, deep down, they both knew that they needed one another.

For quite some time now, Eric had been giving real consideration to asking Taylor for something more serious in their relationship. But Eric had never been all that confident when it came to the 

fairer sex, so he chose to remain silent instead of taking the risk that asking for a serious commitment could potentially push her away. If they made it through whatever it was that Pravus had in store for them, Eric made a promise to himself that he would finally be a man and take that chance.

"How far out are we?" asked Jen, trying to crane her neck far enough above Wes' shoulder to read the Explorer's GPS screen.

"Eighteen miles," Wes answered. Reading the digital clock above his rearview mirror, he saw that it was eleven thirty-eight, twenty-two minutes before their hour window expired. Silently, Wes prayed that they didn't hit any unexpected traffic.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Taylor commented.

"It's an Explorer, babe, not a Porsche," Eric retorted, his head turned back to Taylor as he winked at her.

"Don't call me _babe_, hotshot. You know I'll kick your ass from here to next Tuesday," Taylor fired back, discreetly high-fiving Jen.

"Oh, yeah, you and what air force?" asked Eric, sarcastically alluding to Taylor's time as a pilot in the armed services.

"Oh, don't you even get me star—"

"Guys, come on. Now is _really_ not the time to be doing this," Wes interjected, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes at their childish behavior. "Let's try and focus on kicking Pravus' ass before we start talking about kicking each other's, okay?"

"Can it, Collins!" Eric and Taylor replied in tandem, slightly embarrassed as they smiled back at each other.

"Aww, look at how cute you guys are matching each other's words," Wes teased, earning glares of death from both Eric and Taylor. Passing by a green mile marker, Wes checked the clock again. A smile crept across his lips when he realized that they only had nine miles left until they reached Angel Grove with nearly fifteen minutes of their hour still remaining. _"So much for not driving fast enough,"_ Wes thought to himself, giving the Explorer a little extra gas just to be on the safe side. "Eric, call Tommy; let him know we're almost there and ask him what he wants us to do when we get there."

Nodding, Eric reached into his pocket for his cell phone and started to dial the familiar number; at the same time his phone started to vibrate, signaling to Eric that someone was calling him. Looking down at the screen he saw Tommy's name and laughed as he flipped the phone open and placed it against his ear. "Tommy, I was just about to call you. Where are you guys at?"

"Kim, Jason, and I just got here. I'd say we're the first ones by the look of it. Where are you?"

"About seven miles away," Eric answered after checking the GPS screen. "What's it like out there? Anything look suspicious at all?"

"I don't really know, right now. We haven't had much time to look around yet but we're going to in a minute," Tommy answered, pausing for a few moments. "So far, everything looks to be fairly normal but you and I both know what that means."

Eric half-chuckled, knowing exactly what that meant. "It's only a matter of time until the shit hits the fan."

"Yep, so just make sure you guys are all on your guard when you get here. Crazy things have been known to happen out in these dunes, and with this Pravus guys running around like a fucking maniac…"

"Got it. See you in a couple minutes," Eric replied, closing his phone before Tommy completely shifted into leader-mode and started bossing people around. He and Tommy couldn't have been more similar if they were brothers, and they acted like it, too. Ninety-nine percent of the time they got along famously, but every once in a while their equal levels of stubbornness caused them to butt heads, usually when it involved the Rangers. Tommy was born to lead and Eric hated being told what to do more than anything.

"Two more miles, guys," Wes commented, an air of nervousness settling over the occupants of the vehicle. Going into this completely blind, all they knew was that the world was in danger, but that was more than enough to draw the foursome out of their peaceful retirement. They were Rangers until the end.

The sight that beheld them when they arrived at the place where the Command Center used to be was shocking to say the least. The turnout of Rangers was more than any of them had expected to see.

Tommy, Kim, Jason, and Andros were all standing near Tommy's Jeep, chatting casually with each other. From the way Andros kept looking to his left, Wes and Eric reasoned that he had probably hid the Megaship somewhere in that direction. Not too far from where that foursome stood were husband and wife, Carter and Dana Grayson, seated inside a _Rescue Rover_, one of the military grade Humvees built specially for Lightspeed Rescue. Parked nearby was a black motorcycle and a forest green Jeep Grand Cherokee with two young men and a woman, no more than twenty years old, leaning against the SUV.

"Who's that?" asked Wes, jerking his head towards the trio as he and the rest of the Rangers representing Time and Wild Force exited the Explorer.

"If I remember my history lessons, it's Mystic Force. The one in green is Xander; red is Nick, also known as Bowen, and blue is his girlfriend, Madison."

"What about those two?" questioned Eric, pointing towards a young woman with dirty blonde hair and an African-American male with cornrows, a giant diamond piercing each ear.

"Those are the Overdrive kids, Ronny and Will," Jen answered.

Looking at the two youths, Eric rolled his eyes helplessly. "They can't be more than eighteen or nineteen years old! The guy looks like he belongs in a goddamn rap video for crying out loud! Jesus, Tommy's probably shitting a purple monkey right now! Where in the world are T.J. and Leo? Hell, I'd even take Cole at this point!"

Coming up from behind, Wes clapped his hand firmly on Eric's shoulder. "Hey, you need to lighten up and relax a bit, man. These guys are Rangers for a reason. At least give them a chance to show their stuff before you start ragging on them."

"Seriously," Taylor added as she and Jen hurried to catch up to the men. Walking at Eric's side, she wrapped her arms around one of his. "You used to say the same stuff about me, remember? Do I need to remind you where that got you?"

"Probably flat on his ass," Wes supplied, earning a glare from Eric and an elbow to the ribs from the short but fierce brunette on his arm.

"Fine, I'll give them a chance," Eric grumbled, allowing Taylor to kiss his cheek. "But the first time one of them fucks up, I'm going to be on their asses faster than a horse running away from a glue truck."

"Fair enough," Taylor conceded as the foursome stopped in front of Tommy, Jason, Kimberly, and Andros.

"What's up, guys?" said Tommy, shaking hands with Eric and Wes, exchanging hugs with Jen and Taylor.

Everyone in the group was familiar with one another except for Kimberly so Tommy took the liberty of introducing her to the Time and Wild Force Rangers. She'd heard about the women from Tommy, but had never actually met them before. This wasn't her first encounter with Eric and Wes, though. She had come in contact with the Silver Guardians once before, but it had been a very brief meeting; she'd been on her way out to have drinks with some friends when they'd arrived at Tommy's house for a poker game.

Once the introductions had been completed, Tommy drifted away from the group. He stood in the center of the makeshift circle that the fourteen other Rangers had formed, looking around at all of them. "Everyone get over here and gather around!" he called out. The ones who knew him obeyed immediately; those who didn't had the unfortunate position of being on the receiving end 

of Tommy when the fate of the world was at stake. "Oh, I'm sorry," he added, looking to the Mystic Force and Overdrive Rangers, "I didn't realize that I hadn't included you in that. Let me try again. **EVERYONE GET OVER HERE AND GATHER AROUND!**"

Checking his watch, Tommy shook his head as the five young Rangers sheepishly made their way towards the rest of the group, earning glares from a few of the veteran Rangers in the process, one Eric Myers in particular.

"Listen up!" Tommy continued, looking proudly to each and every Ranger who had had the courage to show up for this. "The hour that Pravus has given us is up in four minutes. I suggest you all use that time to familiarize yourself with each other as much as possible."

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than the sound of rumbling engines started to echo off of the surrounding cliffs. Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light that dissipated as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the looming shadow of an approaching space craft overhead.

"So much for four minutes, huh?" Jason commented, all of the Rangers instinctively dropping into defensive stances. Those with active Morphers had them at the ready when the space craft touched down and the door hissed open; the door split in half, vertically, the bottom half containing a staircase that folded out until it touched the ground. Two men appeared at the entrance; they quickly descended the stairs and sprinted towards the other Rangers.

"Sorry we're late," one of the men panted, hands on his knees. He wore a red tee shirt with the letters SPD emblazoned across the chest in black lettering and black wind pants with a thick, red, vertical stripe on each leg. Catching his breath, he extended his hand to Tommy. "Jack Landors, SPD Red Ranger," he continued, Tommy shaking the young man's hand cautiously. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

"SPD, huh?" asked Tommy. He eyed Jack and his companion, another young man, this one with blue eyes and sandy blonde hair wearing a black uniform with blue piping, SPD written in small blue lettering on the left side of his chest. "I've never heard of you before."

"That's because they aren't from this time," Jen interjected, stepping forward as the attention shifted from Tommy to her. Time travel was definitely _not_ one of Tommy's fortes; he stepped back, graciously conceding the floor to Jen. "A fully functional branch of Space Patrol Delta on Earth is still another fifteen years down the road. 2025?" she asked, looking to Jack and Bridge.

"2027, actually," Bridge answered, speaking up for the first time.

Jen's expression grew curious at that. From the history books she had read in the Time Force Academy, Jack had permanently retired from SPD shortly after the defeat of Emperor Gruum and the Troobian Empire. She was given little time to question it, though. Before another word could escape her lips the sky suddenly started to open up, revealing a giant beam of golden light that stretched from the ground to the outermost reaches of the atmosphere.

The light was so bright that it left the Rangers temporarily blinded, blinking away specks of light long after the beam had disappeared from sight. Nick was the first whose eyes had adjusted enough to make out the form of Pravus slowly stalking towards them. "That's him," he murmured, pointing to the man as the rest of the Rangers began to recognize Pravus as well. Looking to his left, Nick pointed an accusatory finger at Xander. "Don't go doing anything stupid, alright? Now's not the time for Plan Xander."

"Relax, mate," Xander replied in a thick Australian accent, putting up his fists defensively as Pravus grew closer. "Even _I_ know that Plan Xander won't work on this guy. He looks pissed."

"What do we do?" asked a concerned Madison.

Tommy had been pondering that very question long before he heard Madison ask it. Ever the leader, he was doing his best to think on his feet. It wasn't exactly easy to create a plan of attack when he didn't even know who had powers and who didn't, though. Moving towards Tommy, Jason laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What do we do here, bro? Everyone's waiting for you to take control of this situation and tell them what they should do."

Sighing, Tommy nodded his head. He knew that they were all waiting on him, raising the pressure level to new heights. He'd been under pressure hundreds of times, though, and never cracked once; he didn't plan on making today the first time. Taking a deep breath, Tommy swallowed the oversized lump resting in his throat.

"Alright, listen up!" Tommy called to the Rangers. "If you have a Morpher that works, get in line and form a wall behind me! Keep your Morphers ready but don't use them unless I say so! Move, now!"

All at once fifteen Rangers moved at Tommy's command, creating a wall that Tommy would have been confident in against any of the many evil beings he'd encountered during his tenure as a Ranger; after seeing what Pravus was capable of, Tommy wasn't so sure that this was going to work but it was the best he could do in such a short period of time. It was only when the wall was finished that Tommy realized he and Kimberly were the only ones without powers. Even Jason still had access to his Tyrannosaurus Power Coin and Morpher.

Kimberly stood behind the wall of bodies appearing left out as the other Rangers carefully watched on, never taking their eyes off Pravus as the man brought an end to his forward movement. He looked at the Rangers, eyeing his competition, and let out a tremendous laugh. "I ask for Earth's defenders and this is what I get? A mismatched group that looks as imposing as a meager speck of space dust? I must say, I'm rather disappointed."

"What do you want, Pravus?" Tommy demanded, waiting for the absolute perfect moment to unleash the Rangers on him.

"The complete and total destruction of Zordon's entire legacy!" answered Pravus truthfully, his voice booming against the cliffs as he pointed towards the Rangers. It made Tommy sick to his stomach when he heard a handful of the younger Rangers murmuring to each other, indicating that they had no idea who Zordon even was. "And you will be the ones to help me bring about that destruction!"

A raucous uproar came from the Rangers, each of them yelling over the top of one another, fighting to have their voices heard. Holding up his hand, Tommy snapped his fingers and suddenly everything was quiet again. Shaking his head, he looked to Pravus. "You're must be out of your damn mind if you think we'd ever help you. Newsflash; we're the ones that stop psychos like you!"

"A psycho?" asked Pravus, chuckling in amusement. "You think I'm psychopathic, dear boy? On the contrary, I'm actually quite sane. You see, it's really rather simple. The ones who didn't come will be punished, but the rest of you have a very special opportunity. You will compete in a tournament to the death; the winner will remain alive while the rest of you will spend eternity in the company of your dear friend, Zordon."

Had his back not been facing the Rangers, they would have been able to see the fury in Tommy's eyes, the desire to put Pravus in his place. "That's it! I've heard enough of this!" he yelled, quickly falling back to join Kimberly behind the wall of Rangers. "Do it, guys!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" Jason called out.

"Let's Rocket!" Andros followed.

"Lightspeed, Rescue!" Carter bellowed, Dana at his side mimicking his arm movements.

"Time For, Time Force!" yelled Wes and Jen in unison.

"Quantum Power!" roared Eric powerfully.

"Wild Access!" added Taylor.

"SPD, Emergency!" Jack shouted for himself and Bridge.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" Nick continued, Xander and Madison flanking him on both sides.

"Overdrive, Accelerate!" Will finished, Ronny morphing in tandem with her teammate.

Flashes of different, vibrantly colored light exploded into the night sky, illuminating both the outskirts of Angel Grove and the city itself for miles in every direction. At the end of it all, fifteen Rangers stood morphed and ready for action; with their weapons drawn, they charged at Pravus without the slightest bit of hesitation.

To say that the battle was short would be a vast understatement; it was over before it had even had a chance to really get started. When the Rangers were within ten feet of Pravus, a wave of golden energy erupted from his hands heading straight for them. The blast connected and the Rangers were all sent flying backwards, arms and legs flailing about wildly as they tumbled through the air; the fifteen Rangers landed hard against the rocky ground, each and every one of them now demorphed.

"Well, I'd say that was anti-climatic. How 'bout you?" muttered Jason who had ended up at Tommy's feet and was now receiving a helping hand up from his friend. "Shit man, that hurt like a son of a bitch," he added, rubbing his ribs tenderly as the rest of the Rangers slowly started to regroup around the pair.

Pravus was infuriated as he looked towards the Rangers; he'd given them an opportunity and they had repaid him by spitting in his face. Gazing from Ranger to Ranger, he noted that there were seventeen in all. "Time to even their numbers," he murmured to himself, debating which one of them to kill. "Rangers, you listen up and you listen well!" he yelled, the Rangers slowly turning to face him. "I didn't want your blood on my hands but that display of aggression has left me no choice! One of you must pay and I choose…_you!_"

All eyes suddenly shifted to Jason—who looked much like the deer Tommy and Kimberly had encountered earlier that evening—as a slim beam of energy shot from Pravus' fingertip, flying right at Earth's first Red Ranger. "No!" Tommy yelled, instinctively diving in front of Jason. Unfortunately for Jason, Tommy's attempt at turning himself into a human shield failed; the beam was inches from connecting with Tommy when it stopped, waiting for him to hit the ground before it exploded viciously into Jason's chest, almost as if it had a life of its own and knew that it was intended only for Jason.

With one hand on his heart Jason looked down at Tommy, his face contorted as it began turning white almost immediately. He tried to speak, to say goodbye to his best friend, but found that his mouth was already far too dry for words. Instead, Jason simply fell to the ground; rolling over to face him, Tommy scrambled madly on all fours until he reached Jason's lifeless body. Tears filled Tommy's eyes as he squeezed one of Jason's hands, suddenly aware that there was another presence nearby. Slowly turning his head, he saw that Kimberly was kneeling on the other side of Jason, crying violently as she beat her fists against her big brother's chest.

"No! No! Not you, Jase! Not now!" Kimberly whimpered, the other Rangers watching on helplessly. Andros, Carter, Eric, and Wes—all of whom knew and respected Jason—were struggling with tears of their own, but knew that their emotions were next to nothing compared to what Tommy and Kimberly had to be feeling.

Kimberly lost the will to continue hitting Jason rather quickly, choosing instead to bury her face against his neck as she held him tightly. Her face would have connected with the ground if Tommy hadn't intervened, catching her when Jason's body suddenly disappeared without the 

slightest hint of a warning. For a few silent moments he hugged her with everything he had, rocking her back and forth in his arms. It was like the world had stopped again, this time in the most literal sense; no one, not even Pravus, dared try interrupting the grieving couple.

"You know what we have to do, right?" asked Tommy eventually, forcing Kimberly to look at him as he used his thumbs to gently wipe away her tears, blinking as even more slid down his own cheeks.

Sniffling, Kimberly nodded firmly, taking deep breaths in rapid succession. When she finally spoke it was with a tenacity that Tommy hadn't heard from her in a very long time. "Find a way for us to stay alive long enough to make that bastard pay."

"Come on," said Tommy quietly; standing up, he pulled Kimberly with him onto her feet. "We'll grieve for Jason later. Right now, we just need to stop this before Pravus hurts anyone else." Slipping his hand into Kimberly's, Tommy guided her along as they made their way to Pravus who smiled triumphantly at them. "We stand here, powerless, and accept your offer."

"Good; very good. I knew there was a reason you were Zordon's chosen ones" Pravus replied, stroking his chin in between his thumb and forefinger. Hearing Pravus slander Zordon's name caused Tommy to ball his fists tightly, forcing himself not to do anything stupid. "I respect bravery, Rangers. It deserves to be rewarded and, thus, rewarded you shall be."

With a wave of his hand, a golden coin appeared in the palms of Tommy and Kimberly. Shocked, they stared at the coins and saw that the small discs looked exactly like the ones Ninjor had created for them so long ago; Tommy's coin was emblazoned with an image of the falcon, Kimberly's depicting the crane.

"Yes, now you finally see how powerful I truly am! Face it; you are at my mercy, Rangers! You can either fight in the tournament and still have a chance to live or refuse and die now! I've given you plenty of time to make up your minds, step forward now or perish like your comrade!"

A chorus of quiet murmurs came from the Rangers as one-by-one they made their way to stand by Tommy and Kimberly. The sixteen men and women who had once defended the Earth valiantly could hardly believe that this, fighting against each other, was what they had been reduced to. Whether they liked it or not, the Power Rangers had finally met their match, in the worst way possible.


	2. And So It Begins

**"Wrongs are often forgiven, but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever." — Lord Chesterfield**

**"No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible," — Voltaire**

**"I say a murder is abstract. You pull the trigger and after that you do not understand anything that happens." — Jean-Paul Sartre**

--

_Oltre a Vita e Morte_

_Chapter 2 – "And So It Begins"_

_Original Posting Date: July 19, 2008_

The smile on Pravus' face grew greedy as he looked at the sixteen Rangers standing before him, no one in the group with even the slightest clue as to what was in store for them. Saying nothing he paced back and forth in front of them, his tunic billowing in the wind. The Rangers were forced to watch on helplessly, waiting for Pravus to inevitably make his move. It came moments later when he finally stopped, his back turned to the Rangers as he gazed up at the night sky with his arms held high above his head.

Swirling rapidly around them, the wind began to gain more and more speed; if Tommy hadn't had his arm secured firmly around Kimberly's waist, she would have been knocked over easily. As it was, even the heaviest of the male Rangers were finding it difficult to maintain their footing in the ever stiffening wind. Those with significant others held onto them for dear life as the eyes of Pravus slowly rolled to the back of his head.

"Prepare yourselves, Rangers!" Pravus shouted, the wind presenting no competition to his booming voice. Methodically, he turned around to face them. Some of the Rangers gasped in horror when they saw the blankness in the whites of his eyes; others simply looked away. "The first stage of the tournament begins now!"

A sudden sense of queasiness started to plague the Rangers, the wind continuing to pick up until they were surrounded by a cyclone of sand that lifted them off of their feet. Violently tossing the Rangers about, the cyclone caused them to unwittingly barrel into one another; chorusing groans of pain echoed throughout their sandy prison, no one able to see more than a few inches in front of their faces.

As the cyclone reached the cliff's edge, instead of falling to the earth below it exploded upwards, carrying the Rangers to God knows where. When it finally stopped the Rangers crashed down hard, spitting out mouthfuls of sand. At first they assumed it to be from the cyclone, but as they started to get their bearings they realized that they were on a beach, perhaps the most beautiful beach any of them had ever seen before.

"Looks like we're the only ones here," commented Wes as he and the rest of the Rangers took in their surroundings. Outside of themselves, the beach was void of all life; behind them, a gorgeous two-story villa stood in solidarity, looming overhead.

"Where in the world are we?" asked Madison, looking around in confusion.

Eric scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Definitely not in Kansas, sweetheart."

"Hey, don't call my girlfriend 'sweetheart!'" Nick interjected. Getting in Eric's face, he pushed the Quantum Ranger in the chest. Taking a step back, Eric looked at Nick and laughed, shaking his head.

"I'm gonna give you three seconds to get out of here before I hurt you, kid," muttered Eric, shoving Nick's shoulder. Proceeding to ignore the Red Mystic Ranger, Eric turned his head to whisper something to Taylor.

"No, I'm not gonna let you push us around just because you've been a Ranger longer. I don't know who you think you are, but that shit isn't going to fly with me!" Nick returned, staring at the unflinching side of Eric's face. The explosive _crack_ that followed caused the Rangers to gasp in shock. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, dammit!"

Pressing his palm to his forehead, a disbelieving Tommy lowered his eyes to the ground, shaking his head. "That kid just made the biggest mistake of his entire life," he murmured to Kimberly.

"You can say that again. He is sooo dead," added Taylor, secretly wanting to see Eric beat the holy hell out of Nick.

The tournament hadn't even started yet and already the Rangers were being pitted against each other. Anticipation settled over the Rangers as they waited for Eric to retaliate. Refusing to give Nick the satisfaction that his slap had stung, Eric stood with balled fists as he slowly looked up at the young man. "You just fucked yourself," he said simply.

Grabbing Nick by the collar of his shirt, Eric tossed him effortlessly across the beach. By the time Nick had landed face down in the sand, Eric was already halfway to him. The Quantum Ranger only managed one punch before Andros, Carter, Tommy, and Wes intervened and pulled him away, but Eric had made sure that his lone strike counted. Even with four grown men—Ranger men at that— holding him back, Eric still tried struggling; he wanted to get his hands on Nick and give the kid a nice long lesson in respecting his elders.

Madison and Xander were quick to Nick's side, staring angrily at Eric who returned their looks with a half-cocked smirk as the four men drug him away. Groaning in pain, Nick refused any help from his friends; slow to stand, he was already showing the beginnings of a dark circle around his right eye where Eric's punch had landed.

"Hey man, you alright?" asked Jack. Coming to Nick's side he tried to get a decent look at Nick's eye, but the Red Mystic Ranger was now using his hand to cover it. "That was a nasty hit you took there."

"I'm fine," Nick grumbled, turning to see Eric in a conversation with the four male Rangers who had saved him from an even bigger beat down. "He'll get his in the tournament."

As if on cue there was another thunderous _crack_, this time from actual thunder rumbling up above. The ocean waves that had once been peaceful instantly came to life, crashing hard against the shoreline as Pravus appeared before the Rangers. Having seen what took place between Eric and Nick, he smiled wickedly. Already they were fighting amongst themselves; his plan couldn't have been going any better.

Walking in front of the Rangers, looking to each of them individually, Pravus came to a stop in front of Eric who stood between Taylor and Wes. "You have anger, Rangers; that's good," he spoke, continuing down the line until he reached Nick at the end. "You have aggression; that's even better," he added, disappearing. He reappeared a moment later; standing before the group, he took them in as a whole. "Your lives depend on your ability to fight, but they also depend on a number of other things: intelligence, tenacity, experience, _speed…_"

Flicking his wrist, Pravus created a black line in front of the Rangers. Again he disappeared, this time standing at a distance roughly that of a football field away. Still, his voice reached the Rangers just as clear as if he was only feet away from them. "Rangers, you will race each other to determine your positions in the tournament," he started. It was then that the Rangers realized they were no longer dressed as they had been in Angel Grove, and were now garbed in athletic clothes and shoes that corresponded to their various Ranger colors. "And the winners will be rewarded handsomely! On my signal…"

Immediately, the sixteen Rangers dropped into ready positions behind the line. Taking deep breaths as he prepared to run for his life, Tommy turned his head to Kimberly. "If you can, try and finish somewhere between fifth and eighth place."

"Why?" asked Kimberly, furrowing her brow curiously.

"Just trust me. I don't have time to expl—"

"GO!" yelled Pravus.

With their lives hanging in the balance, each of the Rangers pushed themselves to run as hard as they possibly could. Tommy and Kimberly got a late start thanks to their side conversation, but were quick to gain ground on the other Rangers. They passed by Ronny and Madison with no problem, arriving on the heels Will shortly thereafter. Dana came next, then Xander, Carter, Taylor and Jack. At the halfway point of the race, they still had Nick, Andros, Wes, Jen, Eric, and Bridge left to contend with.

Pushing themselves to new levels, Tommy and Kimberly blew by Nick and Andros. As they arrived at the side of the Time Force couple, Wes and Jen, Kimberly remembered what Tommy had said to her. She didn't know why, because doing so meant losing the race, but for some reason she decided to take his advice

Approaching the finish line, she slowed her pace and allowed Wes and Jen to pass her up. Then Andros reappeared next to her; when he left her behind Kimberly kicked it back into high gear, knowing only that she needed to finish between fifth and eighth place.

Tommy, however, was planning on winning this race by any means necessary; if that meant an extra boost from an outside source, then so be it. Pumping his legs harder, he grasped his new Power Coin tightly in the palm of his hand. "Ninjetti Falcon!" he yelled instinctively. A bright flash of white light accompanied the morph as the familiar white robes settled over his body. "Ninjetti Streak!"

With the added boost of speed, Tommy became nothing more than a blur of pure white as he zoomed passed Eric and Bridge with ease, crossing the finish line a good five seconds before SPD's Blue Ranger. Eric finished in third place, followed by Jen, Wes, Andros, Kimberly, and Nick to round out the top eight. As soon as Bridge had regained enough air to speak he was quick to contend Tommy's finish to Pravus. "He used his powers. That's cheating."

Pravus let out an amused chuckle. "Is it? I don't recall saying that the use of one's powers was forbidden in this race. When I told you what it would take to win this tournament, you obviously didn't listen when I said intelligence. No rules were broken, therefore Tommy is the winner," he proclaimed, looking to the White Ranger. "As such, you are allowed to choose who you wish to face in the first round, as well as which room you'd like to stay in for the remainder of your time in the tournament. The rest of you will follow in the order in which you finished the race."

"Wait, a room?" questioned Tommy, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, a room; did you not see the house upon your arrival?" asked Pravus in return. "When you are not competing, that is where you will stay for the duration of the tournament. You are the brave ones of your kind, Rangers, and for that you will be rewarded. You will find that the house is equipped with everything a human needs and more. However, I must urge you all, do not think of escape for if you try, you will pay with your life."

No more needed to be said; with a wave of his hand, Pravus disappeared along with Tommy who ended up in the kitchen of the villa, alone. If Tommy had learned anything in his tenure as a Ranger it was that one could never be too careful. He moved about the house defensively, ready to take down any would-be assailants at a moment's notice. Soon enough, though, he realized that he was the only one in the house.

Looking from room to room, he found that everything was decorated black. Beds, walls, dressers, doors; hell, even the toilets were black. Tommy would be hard pressed to find anything in the house that wasn't black in its deepest, darkest form. Since décor clearly wasn't an issue, he settled on the biggest room with the biggest bed; it was also the only room that had its own adjoining bathroom.

Oddly enough, as soon as he flopped down on the California King-sized bed everything changed from black to white. Letting out a chuckle, he prayed for his own sake that half of the room didn't turn pink when Kimberly joined him later on. Flipping over on his side, Tommy grabbed a remote control from the nightstand and used it to turn on the plasma television screen mounted on the wall; at the same time, he heard the pitter-patter of feet in the hallway followed by someone, most likely Bridge, trying to open the door to his room before moving on.

Reasoning that it could possibly be Kimberly, Tommy thought about getting up to open the door and check who it was, but dismissed those thoughts rather quickly. He'd only been in the house for five or ten minutes; having finished in seventh place, it was highly unlikely that Kimberly had even left the beach yet.

Out in the hallway, Bridge had found a room that he liked; he was about to go in when a firm hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him backwards. Stumbling against the wall, he saw that it was Eric who had done it. "This is my room," said the Quantum Ranger.

"What? No it's not, it's mine!" Bridge replied. He tried again to enter the room, but Eric used his arm to block the doorway. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I was here first so just let me have the room, okay?"

"Or what? You gonna go cry to Pravus like you did when Tommy smoked you earlier?" chuckled Eric, rubbing his hands against his eyes to imitate crying as he backpedaled into the room. As soon as he fell onto the Queen-sized bed, the room went from black to a deep shade of crimson. "See, even the walls and bedspread know that this is my room. Besides, this bed is for big boys and you ain't one of 'em, kid; I think I saw a room with a race car bed down the hall, though. You should go check it out."

Bridge opened his mouth to argue when the door, of its own accord, suddenly slammed shut in his face. Angrily, he stormed through the hallway in search of another room. Eventually he found one and, while it wasn't nearly as big as the one Eric had stolen from him, it was one of only two remaining rooms in the house with a single bed. He was on his way in when Jen stealthily slid passed him without a word, leaving Bridge staring at bright, wall-to-wall pink for just a moment before being met with another slamming door.

At a loss for words, Bridge could do little more than stare at the wooden barrier in complete ant utter disbelief. He didn't even hear Wes approaching, nor did he react until he heard the Red Time Force Ranger clear his throat.

"Huh?" asked Bridge, partially confused.

Wes rolled his eyes. "I said, is this room yours?"

"_It was before your bitch of a wife took it," _Bridge considered saying but, after seeing what Wes's friend had done to Nick, he was trying hard to remain in the good graces of the Silver Guardians. Unfortunately, Eric wasn't making that an easy task. "No, it's not. I, uh, I think Jen is in there."

"So is there a reason you're staring at my wife's bedroom then, or do you just make a habit of being a complete pervert?" Wes returned to Bridge's dismay.

Quickly, the Blue Ranger shook his head. "No, that's not what I was doing at all. You see, I was just trying to—"

"Get out of here," Wes growled. He didn't care what Bridge was doing; the kid gave him a creepy vibe and Wes didn't want him anywhere near Jen. Waiting until Bridge had turned to leave, Wes gave a quick wave to Andros—who had just arrived upstairs—before disappearing into the room he'd be sharing with his wife.

The Red Space and Blue SPD Rangers came to a head in front of the last remaining room with one bed. "Is this yo—" Andros started, only to be cut off by Bridge.

"Just take it," Bridge grumbled. Feeling absolutely defeated in every sense of the word he trudged towards the stairs, descending them at the same time that Kimberly was going up.

They passed by each other in silence; Bridge knew who she was, and though he'd often dreamed of meeting the original Rangers, he wasn't much in the mood for pleasantries. Entering a hallway of closed doors, Kimberly tried the first two and found that they were locked, but opened the third revealing a lounging Tommy.

"That was a pretty slick move you pulled out there," Kimberly murmured, a hint of pride in her voice that usually wouldn't have been there. Under these circumstances, however, she was more than willing to take any advantage they could get, even if that meant Tommy having to manipulate the rules in their favor.

"Thanks," Tommy replied as she crossed the room. Sure enough, when she laid down next to him half of the room turned pink; every single thing in the room was colored with white on the left and pink on the right. "I had a feeling that was going to happen."

Kimberly laughed lightly, tracing her fingertip up and down his tee-shirt covered chest. "So, Mr. Genius, care to tell me why I had to finish in a certain place earlier?"

"Because you finishing in the bottom half of the top eight means we won't have to worry about fighting each other until the end of the tournament," Tommy answered, chuckling at Kimberly's confused expression. Thinking that she might be able to understand him better if he had a diagram, Tommy flipped over and opened his nightstand drawer in search of a pen and pad. Ironically, those were the only two items in the drawer. "You've seen a tournament bracket before, like for playoffs in sports or something like that, right?"

"Yeah. I played soccer, remember?" Kimberly replied, still not understanding where this was going.

"Right, so think of this like a soccer tournament where our finish in the race determined our seeds," said Tommy, going to work on sketching a bracket. Drawing a line down the center of the page, he wrote his own name at the top followed by Bridge, Eric, and Jen in that order; on the other side were Wes, Andros, Kim, and Nick. Underneath each of their names were blank lines representing their yet to be determined opponents. "See what I'm talking about here; I have to win my side of the bracket and you have to win yours…"

"Which will give us plenty of time," finished Kimberly, alluding to that which she and Tommy had discussed upon Jason's death. Tears filled her eyes at the thought of her deceased friend. "I still can't believe he's really gone."

Tommy sighed, tucking her head under his chin as he pulled her close to him. "I know, sweetie; I can't believe it either. It hurts like hell to know that I'm never going to see my best friend again, but I know Jason and he wouldn't want us to cry over him. He'd want us to stay strong, support each other until the time comes for us to end this."

"I don't want Jason to have died in vain. We can't let that happen" Kimberly replied, holding onto Tommy with all her might. Knowing that what he'd said about Jason was true, Kimberly forced herself to hold her tears back for her friend.

"It won't, Beautiful," Tommy promised, gently stroking her back as he placed a soft kiss to her forehead.

--

In the room next to Tommy and Kimberly's, Carter and Dana Grayson lied atop the two full-sized beds they had been forced to push together. Neither had finished in the top eight, and had thus drawn the short end of the stick when it came to room selection. Though no one who had chosen an upstairs room was yet aware of it, there was a clear division between the two floors of the villa.

There was no intermingling between the veteran Rangers and their younger successors; the Mighty Morphin' through Wild Force Rangers occupied the top floor, while SPD through Operation Overdrive was downstairs. The division between them had been all but set in stone when Nick slapped Eric. It was a fact that Dana was none too thrilled about.

"Why are we doing this, Carter? I mean, what good can possibly come from it? We're really going to kill each other for what, a chance at living alone?" asked Dana, shaking her head.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but Tommy has never let us down before. He'll come up with a way to get us out of this," Carter answered confidently, his steady voice never betraying his inner doubts. "For now, we just need to focus on staying alive and let the rest fall into place. Either way, nothing is going to split us apart, I promise."

Dana sighed in Carter's arms, her own doubts about the tournament clearly seeping through. Tilting her chin upwards with his finger Carter pressed his lips to Dana's, praying to God that he wasn't wrong about Tommy.

--

Downstairs, the mood of the younger Rangers was much different than that of their veteran predecessors. Thanks to Eric and Jen, Bridge was now being forced to share one of the two downstairs rooms with the remaining male Rangers. Then the men had found that their room only held four beds, one less than they needed.

"Well, at least the girls were nice enough to let us borrow one of their extra beds," commented Jack, backpedaling slowly as he and Nick carried a full-sized box spring through the hallway. Bridge followed behind them with the mattress, Will and Xander bringing up the rear with armfuls of pillows and bedding. "Which way do you want me to take this thing?"

"Swing it around and tilt it to your right," answered Nick. Angling the box spring on its side, the pair of Red Rangers brought it through the doorway and set it with the rest of the beds lining one of the walls. Bridge entered the room a few moments later, tossing the mattress on top of the box spring with an all-telling expression; he was still mad about what had happened with the veteran Rangers earlier.

"So, which one of you ladies is using the pink sheets?" Xander joked, throwing the sheets and matching comforter on the bed. Looking amongst each other expectantly, the men started to laugh; no one wanted pink sheets.

"Oh hell, I don't care; just give them to me," said Nick, shaking his head. "We'll be out of here and into our own rooms soon enough, anyway."

Leaning in the doorjamb while munching on an apple, Eric revealed his presence by way of an amused chuckle that earned him the attention of the five younger Rangers. "Is that so? And just how exactly do you plan on doing that when you couldn't even stop an unmorphed punch?" asked the Quantum Ranger, his voice quite nonchalant. "By the way, nice shiner; looks good on you, kid."

Anger filled Nick's eyes as his blood started to boil. Eric may have embarrassed him earlier, but Nick refused to let that happen again. Wiggling his fingers he reached into his pocket and retrieved his Mystic Morpher.

"_Infierno!_" shouted Nick, pointing the device at Eric.

"Quantum Defender!" yelled Eric at the same time, summoning his personal firearm.

Twin beams of red energy erupted from their weapons, connecting with each other at the point that was exactly halfway between the two men. Where the beams met, their power began to converge, thus creating a glowing, rapidly expanding hue of crimson.

The pair of Rangers held their ground, neither willing to let the other succeed. Eventually, though, it simply became too much; the expansion of power suddenly erupted, throwing them backwards. Eric was slammed hard into the hallway wall, Nick against his bedroom's. Both men let out groans, neither yet able to get up; for Eric, though, he didn't have much say in the matter. A strong pair of hands grabbed his shirt collar and hoisted him roughly onto his feet.

"What did I tell you about picking on the newbies?" demanded Taylor. Pointing a stern finger in Eric's face as she turned her head to where Nick was slumped against the wall, the younger Rangers tending to him.

"Hey, the kid started it. I was just finishing it," Eric answered, smirking as he winked at Nick over Taylor's shoulder. He wasn't expecting Taylor to turn around, trying to drive the side of her fist into his abdomen; somehow he caught her forearm and spun her around, pulling her against his body. "If you wanna get rough, let's go upstairs. These kids are too young to see something like that."

Eric knew that the younger Rangers had heard him call them kids. He also knew that sooner or later it was really going to start getting to them, which was exactly what he was looking for. He wanted them mad, running off of their emotions and pent up aggression; emotional people didn't think clearly and, in battle, having a clear mind gave him a huge advantage.

"Let's just go before you hurt yourself even more," said Taylor, rolling her eyes as she grabbed Eric's arm and pulled him along with her into the kitchen. Pushing him against the refrigerator she gripped his shoulders tightly, refusing to let go. "You really need to knock this off, Eric. It's bad enough that we all have to fight each other and you being a complete asshole isn't making things any better."

"I don't know about you, Taylor, but I'm not willing to die for them!" Eric returned, pointing down the hall towards the younger Ranger's bedrooms. "I'll kill each and every one of them if that's what it takes to stay alive! I'm getting in their heads, trying to keep them off their game; this whole tournament is about finding advantages and exploiting them, and that's what I'm going to do!"

Taylor could hardly believe that this was her Eric doing the talking. Sure, he wasn't the easiest guy to get along with; he was stubborn and had an awful temper, but he'd never wished ill on innocent people before. "So you're willing to kill all of them, huh?"

Eric nodded. "If that's what it takes, you're damn right I am!"

For the second time that day, Eric was the victim of a slap to his cheek that sounded like a whip being cracked. The look on his face was one of shock and disbelief as he brought his palm to the side of his face, Taylor staring back at them with fire in her eyes. "Since you've obviously thought this through so well, what happens when they're gone!? Are you willing to kill Andros or Tommy!? What about Wes!? Are you willing to kill your best friend!?" she yelled. Her face turned a deep shade of red, tears filling her eyes as she looked away and lowered her voice to a whisper. "What about me, Eric? Are you willing to kill me?"

Frozen in place by the weight of her questions, Eric swallowed the lump currently resting in the base of his throat. Could he really kill the people he was closest to, the few people in his life he could actually call friends? He wasn't so sure about that, but he was positive of the answer to her last question.

"I could never kill you," he murmured, shaking his head.

"Why?" demanded Taylor, hands on her hips. "What's so special about me?"

Instead of telling her, Eric opted to show her. Cupping Taylor's cheeks, he kissed her softly. "I don't care about them the way I care about you. They're my friends, and they mean the world to me, but when I go to bed at night they aren't the ones I'm wishing I was with."

Taylor managed a small chuckle. "Well, I would certainly hope not. I'd need a different set of plumbing if you were interested in the likes of Wes and Tommy."

Eric just smiled, though it quickly disappeared from his face. "I'm serious, Taylor. I'm getting sick of…whatever this we're doing with each other," said Eric, gently wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "When we're not together, all I can think about is finding a way to get you back. I don't want to have to get you back anymore; I want you to never leave."

The tremendous smile on Taylor's face said everything that she couldn't. Wrapping her arms around Eric's neck, she locked her lips to his in a passionate kiss. They drank from each other until they were sated, breaking apart only when the need to breathe became too much. Wearing a wry grin, Taylor reached out and took his hand. "Come on," she whispered, kissing her way around his neck just how he liked. She could already feel the steadiness in his legs start to give way. "Let's go upstairs."

Letting out a playful yelp when Eric nipped at her, Taylor spun on her heels and took off running towards the stairs with Eric in hot pursuit. They passed Tommy and Kimberly on the way, Tommy giving Eric a discreet fist bump; or at least, he thought it had been discreet. When he turned back around, Kimberly was shaking her head at him. "You men are such pigs."

Tommy laughed, shrugging his shoulders in partial agreement. "You haven't been around Eric enough to know how much he needs to get laid right now. He'll come out in an hour or so and be a completely different person."

"Hopefully not a total jerkoff anymore," Kimberly supplied. "Thank God you and the other guys were there to pull him off of that poor kid. Did you see what Eric did to his eye?"

"I hate to say it, Kim, but Nick had it coming. He had no business slapping Eric like that."

Defiantly, Kimberly shook her head. "Maybe not, but that wouldn't have happened if Eric hadn't been acting like an asshole. What is it with you guys, anyway? It's like you're genuinely trying to build animosity with the younger Rangers."

Entering the kitchen, Tommy opened the refrigerator in search of something cold to drink. Pulling out two bottles of water he handed one to Kimberly and opened the other, taking a long swig from the container. "It's not about animosity, Kim," he replied, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "It's about survival. No one in this tournament wants to fight each other, but no one wants to die either. I'm not here to meet new people and make friends; I guarantee you if we didn't already know one another, us veteran guys wouldn't even be talking to each other."

Pushing herself up onto the kitchen counter, Kimberly sighed. "It's kinda sad, isn't it?" she asked, looking around the room aimlessly. "Under any other circumstances, I bet we'd all be getting along famously."

Tommy shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not; part of me thinks we'd still be at odds. It's like the older I get, the less of Zordon I see in the newer Rangers and I don't like that at all. I made sure my Rangers knew where they came from, but none of these kids here even know who Zordon is."

"Have you ever thought that that might be what Zordon wanted?" asked Kimberly, earning a confused look from Tommy. "Think about it, Tommy; Zordon was always so mysterious, even with us. He was never about fame or glory; he was about doing what was right and true. As long as the Rangers continue to fight the good fight, _that_ is Zordon's legacy, not history lessons on the ones who came before them."

"Wow, I guess I never really thought of it like that," said Tommy, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe you're right; maybe we would all get along, but that really doesn't matter in this situation. Whether we want to or not, we're going to end up making a lot more enemies than friends here. There's a reason Pravus put all of us in a house together, and it wasn't to make us more comfortable."

"What do you mean?" Kimberly questioned curiously.

Tommy scoffed. "This entire house is already like a giant pressure cooker just waiting to burst. There's tension all around and no one's even fought yet. Once people start dying, it's only going to make things worse around here. Pravus may be a lot of things, but dumb definitely isn't one of them; he understands the nature of the beast and knows that we're going to constantly be at each other's throats."

"I don't care about what happens when any of these other people, Tommy," said Kimberly softly. Lowering herself from the counter, she crossed the kitchen to where he stood near the refrigerator. "But I can't lose you to this stupid tournament. I let you go once and it was the stupidest thing I've ever done; I won't let you go again."

Pulling Kimberly against his chest, Tommy held her closely. "You'll never have to, Beautiful. I promise you, we'll find a way to get through this together. There isn't a force in this world that's strong enough to break us apart."

Nuzzling her face against his neck, Kimberly hoped that Tommy was right. He'd become a part of her life that she couldn't live without; just the mere thought of losing him was crushing enough to reaffirm that.

Not long after that, Tommy realized that she had fallen asleep in his arms, still standing upright. Considering that neither one of them had slept in nearly thirty-two hours, he was surprised that it had taken her this long. Gently, he lifted her off the ground and carried her towards their bedroom. Once she'd been safely tucked into bed, Tommy left the room in search of a quiet place to think and found it a few minutes later, on the upstairs deck overlooking the beach. He would have loved to be asleep with Kimberly in his arms right now, but there were more important things to worry about, his biggest concern being who he was going to choose to face in the first round of the tournament.

Seated in a cushioned, reclining deck chair, Tommy gazed upon the moonlit ocean in silence, contemplating his short list of choices. Only four of the male Rangers had failed to crack the top eight during the race and, since Carter wasn't an option, his list shrunk even more. Of all the Rangers in the house, the only one he had the inkling to square off with was Nick; unfortunately for Tommy, Nick had finished in eighth place, thus eliminating him from the pool of Rangers to choose from.

That left only Jack, Xander, and Will, none of whom Tommy had any problems with. From the little he had seen of them, they seemed like good Rangers which did little more than make his decision that much harder.

Some time later—Tommy wasn't sure, exactly—he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and turned around to see Eric and Wes stepping out onto the deck with drinks in hand. Eric passed a newly-opened bottle of Heineken to Tommy as he and Wes took up seats near the White Ranger.

"Thanks," said Tommy, drinking deeply. "What are you guys up to?"

"Taylor and Jen are in my room so we figured we'd explore the house a bit," answered Wes, leaning back in his chair. "You know there's a game room downstairs with a pool table, ping-pong table, and a pinball machine?"

"Yeah, and all our closets mysteriously have clothes that fit us perfectly," Eric interjected.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "God, Pravus must really want us to think that he's doing us some great service by putting us up in such a nice place with all this stuff. I'd rather live in a one bedroom shanty than here."

Furrowing his brow, Eric chuckled. "You're joking, right?" he asked, Tommy shaking his head that he wasn't. "Care to explain why, oh great leader of ours?"

Again, Tommy used the analogy of a pressure cooker to explain to the Silver Guardians what he had shared with Kimberly earlier. At the end of Tommy's explanation, Wes shrugged his shoulders. "Don't you think that's a little paranoid, man?"

"Maybe," answered Tommy, captivated by the way the moon's light danced along the ocean's peaceful waves. "I guess we'll find out soon enough, huh?"

Oh, if he only knew how right he was.

Long into the night, or early in the morning depending on how one viewed three a.m., Tommy and the Silver Guardians finally parted ways, disappearing into their respective bedrooms to try and salvage a few hours worth of sleep before sunrise. For Tommy, it seemed like he'd only been out for ten or fifteen minutes—though it had actually been five hours—when he suddenly jerked wide awake, sweat covering his brow and naked chest. Something didn't feel right.

Turning his head, he let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that Kimberly was still sleeping soundly next to him. Still, he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him something bad was about to happen. After five-plus years of active Ranger duty Tommy could sense danger from a mile away.

Then his body started to spasm violently, followed by a glowing light that enveloped him completely. Tommy let out a cry of pain that caused Kimberly to sit up in bed, her eyes opened wide, but by the time she had reached out for Tommy, he was already gone. When he reappeared moments later he was fully dressed, standing in the place where everything had started, the cliffs on the outskirts of Angel Grove. He wasn't alone, though; a smirking Pravus was there to greet him as soon as his feet touched the rocky ground.

"What do you want?" demanded Tommy.

"Your decision on the Ranger whom you will face in the first round. You must forgive me; I believe I failed to mention that the first round begins now," answered Pravus, his face gleaming with excitement.

Tommy winced inwardly. He'd given a lot of thought to who his opponent would be, but hadn't been able to come up with an answer. Whether it was Jack, Xander, or Will was irrelevant; Tommy wasn't keen on the idea of fighting any of them. Shaking his head, he looked up at an expectant Pravus. "Just pick someone for me. I don't care who it is."

"So be it," Pravus replied, nodding.

With a wave of his hand, there was a flash of red light that soon transfigured itself into the confused form of Jack Landors. The sinking feeling in Tommy's stomach quickly returned in full force. Of the three available Rangers, Jack was the one he had least wanted to encounter, not because he was afraid of SPD's Red Ranger, but simply because of the way Jack had introduced himself the day before. Jack was polite and respectful towards the veteran Rangers, aware that he would never have touched a Morpher if not for the ones who had come before him.

For his part, Jack was none too thrilled about the prospect of facing Tommy, either. He'd read all about the legend Ranger in SPD's history books; even his leadership style had been taken directly from Tommy. Not only that, but he was also fully aware of Tommy's well-known skills in the martial arts, skills he wasn't confident in his ability to defeat.

Calling the two men before him, Pravus had the pair stand face to face with a distance of roughly five feet between them. "The rules are simple, gentlemen; once you have morphed, anything goes. Good luck to both of you."

That being said, Pravus once again disappeared from sight; looking at each other, Tommy and Jack both shook their heads. "Well, I guess this is it," said Jack, a combinatory hint of both sadness and disappointment in his voice.

"I guess so," supplied Tommy. Instinctively, he reached behind his back and found that there was a Power Morpher clipped to his belt. "You ready to do this man?"

"No," answered Jack honestly, retrieving his Delta Morpher, "but we don't have much of a choice, do we? SPD, Emergency!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy yelled, pointing his Morpher outwards. "White Ranger Power!"

Bright eruptions of red and white energy exploded from their bodies as the Power took over; when the light dissipated, two fully morphed Rangers were circling each other defensively. Unsheathing his enchanted saber, Saba, Tommy twirled the sword in circles as Jack summoned his twin Delta Blasters.

Jack was the first to strike, firing blasts of red energy at Tommy in rapid succession. Using Saba, Tommy managed to deflect most of the shots, but a few managed to connect. Smoke and sparks poured from Tommy's chest; bringing a gloved hand to his black-and-gold shield, Tommy stumbled backwards until he was mere inches from the cliff's edge.

Over his shoulder, Tommy could see a series of sharp boulders hundreds of feet below. Fighting to regain his balance, he charged at Jack with Saba drawn. He stuck the blade between Jack's neck and shoulder, drawing it back in a violent slash. Quick to follow up his attack, Tommy grabbed Jack by the shoulders and bent his body backwards, driving his knee into the bottom of Jack's spine.

A painful scream from Jack accompanied the blow, followed by the feeling of his body hitting the ground as Tommy tossed him aside. Using one hand, Tommy squeezed Jack around the neck and lifted him off of his feet; Jack's legs flailed about wildly as Tommy literally started to choke the life out of him. In a last ditch effort, Jack somehow managed to pull one of his Delta Blasters from its holster, firing a shot into Tommy's midsection. Howling, Tommy slackened his grip and dropped Jack; lying on the ground, the Red Ranger coughed violently as he struggled to get some air into his lungs.

It took a few moments of both regrouping and recovering before either man was ready to continue their battle. When it finally happened, Jack and Tommy charged each other at the exact same time; Tommy swung high, but Jack dropped to his knees, rolling into a somersault that clipped Tommy's legs out from under him. Flipping through the air, his body out of control, Tommy hit the ground and slid a few feet until he came to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

Sensing that this was the perfect opportunity to strike, Jack charged the White Ranger. On one knee, Tommy looked up to see Jack running at him at full speed. Beneath his helmet, Tommy smiled. As soon as Jack was close enough that only an outside force could stop his momentum, Tommy executed a majestic back flip over the cliff's edge. Tommy could hear Jack's yelling growing fainter and fainter as the Red Ranger plummeted to his death.

Gripping the stone structure for dear life, Tommy hoisted himself up, crawling on his belly until his entire body was on solid ground. It seemed fighting in his own backyard had proved to be more of an advantage than Tommy could have ever hoped for. Had he not known this place like the back of his hand, the maneuver was one that probably would have cost him his life.

Swallowing hard, he forced himself to look at Jack. The Red Ranger had been impaled through the stomach by the row of sharp boulders that Tommy had twice been able to avoid. His lifeless body was contorted at an awkward angle, leaving Tommy feeling nauseous as Jack began to glow red; a quick flash followed and then Jack's body was done.

"Power down!" yelled Tommy, thrusting his arms to his side. His uniform and helmet disappeared into thin air, revealing a pair of chocolate brown eyes that were brimming with tears. Dropping to his hands and knees, Tommy started to cough; vomiting inches in front of a pair of sandaled feet, he slowly looked up to see Pravus standing over him, lightly clapping his hands in mock approval.

"Congratulations, Tommy. With your victory you have just advanced to the next round," said Pravus, as if it was something Tommy was ignorant of. Using a flick of his wrist, he caused Tommy's body to levitate for a moment before setting him onto his feet. "The first kill is always the hardest; I promise it will be easier next time."

"Just send me back to the house," Tommy muttered bitterly, wiping the side of his mouth.

Flashes of Jason's murder played in Tommy's mind when Pravus pointed his finger at him, a beam of golden energy heading right for Tommy's chest. Instead of killing him, though, the beam expanded until it enveloped his entire body. He felt himself being carried away one moment and the next he was standing in a crowded living room where fifteen Rangers were strewn about, staring at a blank television in absolute silence.

As soon as Kimberly saw him she was off the couch she had been sharing with Jen and Taylor; running to Tommy, she jumped into his arms, clinging to him with every ounce of strength her tiny body held. "Oh God, Tommy, it was so awful," she whimpered. "Pravus showed up and he-he-he made us watch the whole thing. I thought you were going to die."

Tommy's stomach was still stinging from the shot from Jack's Delta Blaster; Kimberly's entire body pressing up against him wasn't exactly helping things much. Wincing, he set Kimberly down and, as he opened his eyes, they made contact with Bridge. The Blue Ranger had clearly been crying; his eyes were bloodshot as he got up from his seat and stalked towards Tommy. There was only one thought in the heads of the Rangers, and it was that Bridge wasn't going to wait for the tournament to take his shot at avenging Jack's death.

"Look, man, I know what you're going through," said Tommy, putting a hand to Bridge's chest to stop him. "I just lost my best friend yesterday. If it's any consolation, Jack was one of the last people I wanted to fa—"

"Save it for one of your asshole friends," Bridge interrupted, pushing his way passed the White Ranger. En route to his bedroom, he turned around and pointed his finger at Tommy. "I'll see you in the next round."

Sighing, Tommy turned around just in time to see the Mystic Force and Overdrive Rangers shooting him dirty looks as they left the living room in pursuit of Bridge. Though Tommy considered all of the remaining Rangers to be his friends, he didn't much feel like being in their company right now. Without a word between them, he left the living room and headed for the stairs. The nauseous feeling in his stomach had returned, now worse than it had been before.

The bathroom was his destination and he took the stairs two and three at a time to ensure he made it there before it was too late. He was on his knees, gripping the base of the toilet, violent heaving when Kimberly walked in. "Oh, Tommy," she murmured, rushing to his aid in the form of a gentle back rub. The stench was foul but she stuck it out for Tommy; he may not have been able to say it, but Kimberly knew that he needed her, if only for a little emotional support.

"I killed him, Kim. I actually killed him," Tommy cried, his face buried inside the porcelain bowl. Pulling his head out, he fell backwards, slumped against the wall. Kimberly was quick to retrieve a towel from the rack above him; running it under some cold water, she softly wiped his face clean. "What would Zordon think of me? God, I can't imagine how disappointed in me he must be."

"No, Tommy, he wouldn't. Whether you realize it or not, you did what was necessary," Kimberly offered reassuringly. As hard as it was for her to believe that, it was the God's honest truth. "The Rangers need you alive more than anyone else if we want to have any chance at stopping Pravus. Zordon would tell you that you did what had to be done for the greater good."

"The Rangers don't need me," Tommy replied, his old self-doubt seeping through. "They have Eric, and Wes, and Andros, and—"

"I need you. I-I can't do this without you," Kimberly interrupted, her voice soft but firm at the same time. "This is when I don't just need you to be Tommy, my husband. I need you to be Tommy, the Power Ranger; the leader that everyone looks up to. So be that man, Tommy. Be that man."

This was entirely new territory for Tommy and Kimberly. He had always been the one to deliver lectured to her on what it meant to be a Ranger, never the other way around. Realizing this made Tommy chuckle lightly. "I know that, it's just...I thought killing someone would be such a hard thing to do; I think I'm more upset over the fact that I didn't even hesitate than actually doing it."

Cupping his cheeks in the palms of her hands, Kimberly forced Tommy to look at her. "If you had hesitated, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. The only people who are upset with you are the kids, which is to be expected, and yourself. You did what you had to do to stay alive; no one faults you that, okay?"

With his lips pursed like a fish in between Kimberly's hands, Tommy managed to nod his head slightly, enough to get her to release her hold on him. "So, have you thought about who you're going to face when it's your time to fight?"

Sitting down next to him, her back against the wall, Kimberly shook her head. "I'm only going to have two choices and, since Jen is the only other girl that finished in the top eight, I figured I'll just take whichever one of the new girls Jen doesn't pick."

"You mean if one of the guys doesn't pick them first?" asked Tommy, Kimberly's eyes widening at what he was implying.

"You don't actually think…"

Tommy shrugged. "I doubt any of the veteran guys would, but I wouldn't put it passed Bridge to pick one of the girls because he sees them as an easy way to get to me. You saw the way he looked at me, didn't you? He was beyond pissed."

"He also guaranteed that you guys would meet in the next round," added Kimberly, Tommy nodding. She shivered at the thought of one of the men choosing to face a woman. If it happened later in the tournament then it was out of their hands, but in the first round? Could they really be that desperate?

Kimberly certainly hoped not, though she reasoned that they would find out soon enough. If Tommy's bracket theory was correct, having finished in second place in the race, Bridge would be the next to fight.

Pushing himself onto his feet, Tommy stepped in front of the sink and opened the medicine cabinet, pulling out a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Kimberly wrapped her arms around his midsection, resting her head against his back as he aggressively brushed the vile taste of vomit from his mouth. Once the rinsing and spitting portion of the process was complete, he put his arm around Kimberly's shoulder and exited the bathroom.

"Thanks for the talk, Beautiful," he murmured, kissing the side of her head.

"You're welcome," she replied, standing on her tiptoes for a real kiss. Tommy was more than happy to oblige. When the kiss broke, Kimberly looked up at him and smiled. "Come on; I want to go check out that pool table."

"Same rules as usual?" asked Tommy, smirking.

"Winner gets to be on top?" Kimberly returned.

"Let's do it," said Tommy, feeling the need to add, "Pun intended."

When they got downstairs, they found that the game room was already occupied; luckily, the pool table wasn't being used. Eric and Wes were engaged in a back and forth game of pink-pong, Carter was trying to teach Andros the finer points of pinball, and Dana, Jen, and Taylor had taken to the black leather couch lining the far wall, talking quietly to one another. Everything stopped as soon as Tommy entered the room.

The pinball machine let out a low noise that sounded like a moan as Carter let the tiny silver ball roll through the open space between the two plastic flippers. Wes's return shot to Eric dribbled lazily across the table, dropping to the carpeted floor; the three women fell silent, seven sets of eyes focusing solely on the White Ranger.

"Uh, hey guys," said Tommy, looking to his friends.

"Hey," Wes replied cautiously, giving Tommy a polite nod.

"Do you mind if we use the pool table?" Tommy asked.

Checking to see if any of the others were going to argue, Wes turned back to Tommy and shrugged his shoulders on behalf of the group. "Go for it, man."

Nodding, Tommy pulled Kimberly with him to the rack of cue sticks mounted to one of the side walls. They stood with their backs to the other Rangers; Kimberly made sure that only Tommy could hear her when she spoke. "What's up with them? Why are they looking at you like that?"

"Probably because I just killed a man," supplied Tommy with a half-hearted chuckle as he pulled a cue from the rack. He'd been joking, of course, but a big part of Tommy wondered if that was actually the case. Could they have really turned their backs on him already?

Rolling her eyes at his answer, Kimberly selected her own stick; making their way to the table, she pulled the plastic triangle from underneath and handed it to Tommy. "You rack 'em, I'll crack 'em."

Once the balls had been properly arranged and the triangle removed, Kimberly stepped to the foot of the table and fired a shot that sent the balls scattering in every direction. She sunk two balls; the solid Three and the striped Thirteen.

"Nice break," Tommy commented, ever aware that the other veteran Rangers were watching him intently as Kimberly moved about the table in search of her next shot, politely smiling her thanks for the compliment. She sunk one more ball, the solid Seven, before missing her shot at the six, giving control to Tommy.

Aiming at the Eleven Ball, Tommy felt the Rangers staring at his back. He took a nervous shot and missed badly, scratching the cue ball in one of the side pockets. Angrily, he jabbed the butt end of the stick against the floor and whirled around to face them. "Will someone please explain to me why you're all sitting there, staring at me like I'm some fucking circus attraction!?"

There! He'd let them know that he was aware of what they were doing; they couldn't keep ignoring him now, acting like nothing was wrong. Leaning over the ping-pong table with his head bowed low, both hands resting atop the plywood surface, Eric let out a deep breath before looking up at Tommy. "Is it hard?"

"Huh?" asked Tommy, momentarily putting the game on hold.

"Killing another Ranger," answered Eric. "Is it hard?"

It was the question that no one wanted to ask, but was on the minds of everyone in the room. Sighing, Tommy shook his head. "Honestly, when it happened, I didn't even really have time to think about it. All I saw was Jack running at me, and I knew if I didn't do something quick that he was going to kill me. I doubt it'll feel the same way for you guys that it felt for me, but I will say this; whatever preconceived notions you have about it, forget them all. I was an active Ranger for almost six years; there wasn't a single thing I went through that could have prepared me for what happened with Jack."

The other Rangers all nodded their heads, but Tommy knew they couldn't possibly understand how it felt to be the reason that an innocent person, especially one who was also a fellow Ranger, had died. There wasn't a feeling in the world that compared to taking another man's life.

"We're glad you made it, Tommy," said Taylor, giving him a genuine smile.

"Not as much as I am," Tommy replied with a laugh. "But thanks, I appreciate that a lot," he continued, Taylor nodding once as Tommy turned to Carter with a serious expression. "Are you ready, man?"

Carter furrowed his brow curiously. "Ready for what?"

"Bridge," answered Tommy, though Carter still looked confused. "He's gonna be the next one to fight and I doubt he's gonna choose one of the other younger Rangers. Unless he picks one of the girls, I'd say your number is about to be called."

At the realization that he could be the next to fight, Carter looked to his wife and rubbed the top of her leg, smiling reassuringly. Dana, however, was staring directly at Tommy. "Do you really think Bridge will pick him?"

Tommy shrugged. For once, he didn't have any definitive answers, only theories and that bothered him quite a bit. He was used to knowing exactly what needed to be done, or at least having the wherewithal to scrape a plan together by the seat of his pants. Now, though, he was just another Ranger on the chessboard that Pravus had created. "Like I said, unless he picks a girl, it's likely going to be Carter."

"Yeah, but you also said that you wouldn't put it passed Bridge to pick one of the girls, either," Kimberly interjected, unknowingly placing a huge weight on the shoulders of Taylor and Dana in the process.

"And you just said that you doubt he'll pick one of the younger Rangers which, if you're right about that, means it's either me or Taylor," muttered Dana before Tommy was able to jump in and cover himself.

Looking to his left, he shot his wife a look as if to ask her why she had told the others of what he had said earlier. There was a reason he had informed her of his theory on Bridge within the privacy of their bedroom instead of in a group situation like this one. It was bad enough that they were being forced to kill each other; Dana and Taylor didn't need the added fear of being picked because of the perception that their gender was weaker.

Just outside of the game room, Bridge stood with his back pressed against the wall. He'd been there for the whole conversation and had heard everything they had said. Smirking to himself, he started to turn away when he felt his body tighten. Tommy was standing in the empty hallway, the other Rangers on his heels just moments after seeing a vibrant flash of blue light.

"Guys," murmured Wes, looking at his friends, "I think we're about to find out."

Arriving in a location that was all too familiar, Bridge smiled as he stared up at skyscrapers illuminated the night sky above downtown San Angeles, home of the Overdrive Rangers. Normally, San Angeles would have been buzzing at this time but, surprisingly, Bridge was all alone; or so he though.

The sound of cloth whipping in the wind reached his ears seconds before Pravus appeared, plummeting quickly towards the paved road upon which Bridge stood. Pravus landed on one knee, his long black hair covering his face; the force of his landing had caused a circular crack to form around his knee, numerous smaller cracks splitting off in every direction. Looking up at Bridge, Pravus grinned as he pushed himself onto his feet and folded his arms across his chest.

"Are you ready?" Pravus asked simply. Instead of answering him verbally, Bridge merely nodded his head before loudly cracking his neck from side to side. "Good; and who will your opponent be today?"

There was a distinct glimmer in Bridge's eyes as he stroked his chin, pretending as if this was a decision he needed to consider seriously when it was actually the exact opposite. He had known who he wanted to fight since the events of the previous day. "I choose…"


	3. Twist of Fate

"**And where the offense is, let the great axe fall,"— William Shakespeare.**

"**Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged," – Samuel Johnson.**

--

_Oltre a Vita e Morte_

_Chapter 3 – "Twist of Fate"_

_Original Posting Date: August 8, 2008_

On the beaches of Nayarit, Mexico, an eruption of yellow light shot in every direction; the sand, sky, cliffs, and ocean instantly took a tinge of yellow that hadn't been there before. At the same time, Eric Myers felt the weight of the entire world crash down on his shoulders, forcing his knees and legs to buckle and wobble when the same yellow light from outside suddenly flooded the villa game room. Nearby, his friends could hear him cry out painfully and as the light slowly faded away, they all realized why.

Nine strong just moments ago, the group of veteran Rangers had been reduced to eight with the sudden vanishing of Taylor Earhardt. There was a momentary murmur of disbelief amongst their ranks that followed her unexpected disappearance. Sharing looks with one another, the Rangers watched Eric drop to his knees, his head hung low as he beat his clenched fists against the carpet.

Wes was the first to reach the Quantum Ranger's side, putting an arm that was intended to comfort Eric around his shoulder. The pain Eric felt left him unable to hear Wes's attempt at reassuring him that Taylor would be okay, nor did he flinch when Jen soon joined the Silver Guardians on the floor. In a matter of moments, the seven remaining Rangers had all taken to Eric's side, but he did not budge an inch.

Behind his tear-filled eyes, all Eric could think about was the possibility that he might never see Taylor again. He knew from firsthand experience that those looking for revenge were the hardest to defeat, and he alone had given Bridge a myriad of reasons to be revengeful. Eric's heart pounded against his chest as he struggled to regain his composure and force the images of a lifeless Taylor into the deepest reaches of his mind.

Hundreds of miles away, a confused and disoriented Taylor arrived in the downtown area of a city, San Angeles, that she'd never seen before. Ignoring the gigantic skyscrapers looming overhead, Taylor first laid eyes on Pravus before settling on Bridge. The Blue SPD Ranger wore a smirk that was so wicked it left Taylor with knots in her stomach.

"Son of a bitch," Taylor growled, shaking her head. "Tommy was right about you."

"Tommy needs to keep his mouth shut," Bridge replied bitterly, letting out a small chuckle. "Actually, I take that back. After all, he was the one who gave me the idea to choose you. People shouldn't talk so loud."

Taking a defiant step forward, Taylor prepared to charge at Bridge, but was stopped mid-step by a thunderous roar from Pravus. "Enough!" he bellowed, lightning crackling from his curved and gnarled fingertips. Sending Bridge an extended glare, Taylor scowled as she shifted her attention to Pravus. "Why the long face, my dear? Certainly a woman as accomplished as yourself can not be worried by one simple battle."

Taylor would have spat at his feet if her mouth wasn't so dry. "I'm not afraid," she muttered, slowly turning back to Bridge while reaching for her Growl Phone at the same time. "You're going down, kid; Wild Access!"

Bridge half-grinned as he waited for Taylor's transformation to finish; only when the Yellow Eagle Wild Force Ranger stood before him did he unclip his Delta Morpher. "Cute trick," he said with a wink, "but now it's my turn. SPD, Emergency!"

Neither Ranger gave Pravus a chance to say anything else. They ran full speed at each other, Bridge with his Delta Max Striker and Taylor wielding her Golden Eagle Sword. An array of sparks poured from the chests of both Rangers as each connected with slashes from their respective blades. Flat on their backs now, the advantage was going to belong to whichever Ranger managed to get up first.

The Ranger in question turned out to be Taylor, who took off towards Bridge once more; the Blue Ranger was met with an array of punches, kicks, and sword attacks from the moment he got back onto his feet. Forced to go on the defensive, Bridge was sent backpedaling through the eerily deserted—aside from a few randomly parked cars, they were completely alone—streets of downtown San Angeles.

Knowing that her life and any future with Eric depended on it, Taylor fought with all her might, not once thinking that she might not make it out of this battle alive. For his part, though Taylor could not see it, Bridge wore a triumphant smile beneath his helmet. He was doing a pretty decent job of deflecting the majority of Taylor's blows; soon she would wear herself out, and then he would strike.

Catching one of Taylor's kicks, Bridge flipped her backwards, but the Yellow Ranger landed on her feet atop a nearby silver SUV. "I hope that's not the best you've got," she said confidently, hands on her hips.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Bridge shot back as Taylor cocked her sword behind her head and launched herself into a front flip right at him. Her sword came crashing down, but Bridge was ready for it. Using his own blade, he blocked her attack and kicked her directly in the stomach, skidding on her backside across the asphalt. "I think it's time for some fireworks. What about you?"

With a few simple flicks of his wrist, Bridge had converted his Delta Max Striker from a sword to a blaster. As beams of blue energy flew towards her, Taylor rolled around on the ground, doing her best to avoid the shots. Smoke and sparks billowed into the air with each missed shot that ended up meeting street instead of spandex.

Eventually, Taylor was able to make her way behind a car, planting herself against one of the tires. Out of sight from Bridge, Taylor took a deep breath to compose herself even as blasts of blue continued to whizz passed her. Carefully, she tried to peek around the vehicle's bumper, jerking her head back quickly when a beam of energy came within inches of her helmet.

"Shit!" exclaimed Taylor, to no one in particular. "Gotta think of something, gotta think of something." She repeated those words to herself continuously, but no matter how many times she said them, she couldn't come up with a way out. Essentially trapped, Taylor saw only one means of escape; risky as it was, she couldn't think of anything else. "Well, here goes nothing."

Letting out a powerful, mighty roar, Taylor stepped out from behind the car and started running right at Bridge; the Blue Ranger fired relentlessly as Taylor grew nearer, somehow dodging everything he sent her way. She did a mid-air cartwheel to avoid one of the blasts, and then rolled into a somersault to duck another.

"Keanu Reeves, eat your heart out," she grunted, bending backwards as half a dozen blue beams skimmed just inches above her spandex armor. Unfortunately for Taylor, this wasn't the Matrix; too much reverse momentum caused her to lose her balance, dropping to her back. "I am not the One," she continued, grimacing as she slowly rose to her feet just in the nick of time.

Bridge was running at her, his arm extended in a clothesline fashion. Swiftly, Taylor dropped into a squat and swept her leg at Bridge's ankles. Her attack was efficient, hitting its mark; tripping, Bridge flipped wildly through the air, flying a good ten or twelve feet before crashing against the hard, black pavement.

The Blue Ranger groaned on impact, rolling onto his stomach. Upon opening his eyes, the first thing that Bridge saw was Taylor's foot heading straight for his visor. His head snapped back with a sickening crack, leaving Bridge whimpering, motionless. Summoning her Golden Eagle Sword once again, Taylor raised it high; standing tall over Bridge, she prepared to drive the blade into his chest.

"Time to say goodnight, sweetie," said Taylor in a voice that was sarcastically sweet.

As the sword came plunging down at him, the image in Bridge's head was of his friend, Jack, impaled at Tommy's hands. Tommy had to pay for what he did, and that couldn't happen if Bridge didn't make it out of this battle alive. A rush of adrenaline washed over Bridge as he thought of the things he would do to Tommy if given the chance. With the last of his remaining strength, Bridge retrieved his Delta Max Striker from its holster and fired a single shot into Taylor's chest.

Beneath her helmet, Taylor gasped, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at Bridge. Slowly, her grip on the sword started to loosen until she dropped it entirely, stumbling back while clutching her smoking wound. Grunting, Bridge forced himself into a semi-sitting position, using his hands to push himself backwards on his butt.

Much to Taylor's dismay—and Bridge's utter delight—there was another flash of yellow light, this one marking the Yellow Ranger's de-morphing. Taylor looked at Bridge with fear in her eyes, unable to believe what was happening. She couldn't even hear the now standing Bridge taunting her as he aimed for another shot. Her thoughts were focused solely on Eric, that which would never be, and how badly she wished that she had done things differently with him. She cursed her inability to commit; she'd let the last four years slip away, pretending Eric wasn't that important when, deep down, she had always known that he was the only one who would ever hold the key to her guarded heart.

There was another gasp as she felt the second blast rip through her hands before burying itself in her chest. Then came another, and another, and another; Bridge fired at Taylor with no remorse, each shot forcing her back a little further. By the time Bridge had pulled the trigger for the final time—somewhere around twenty, though he'd lost count after thirteen—Taylor's body was completely invisible behind the wall of smoke that shrouded her.

Bridge, however, didn't need to see her to know that Taylor wasn't going to be fighting back any longer. With an air of cockiness, Bridge turned around and posed, the barrel of his blaster pointing towards the sky as Taylor collapsed behind him. He finally looked back moments later, but Bridge could make out only the faintest hint of yellow light through all of the smoke. When it was finally gone, so was Taylor's body.

From somewhere nearby, Bridge heard what sounded like an impressed laugh. Whipping himself around defensively, he noticed Pravus standing in front of him. The supreme being of evil merely gave Bridge an approving nod before dismissing the Blue Ranger with a wave of his hand. Bridge had barely opened his eyes in the living room of the villa when a blur of red and black came barreling at him.

There was a loud crack as Eric drove Bridge into a nearby wall, leaving the shattered imprint of Bridge's body in the stucco. He didn't even have time to react before Eric had taken him by the shirt collar, lifted him off of his feet, and tossed him against the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. Eric almost seemed disappointed when the impact of Bridge meeting the door failed to break the glass; instead, Bridge bounced off of the door and landed face first on the linoleum floor with a thud.

If the division amongst the ranks of the Rangers hadn't been clear before, it had now been made painfully obvious. When Eric went after Bridge, the younger Rangers had made to stop him, only to be met with a wall of veterans; the more experiences Rangers stood firmly, arms folded across their chests, silently daring the young Rangers to do something about it.

"Unless you want to see if that door will hold up a second time," said Tommy, in a voice that reminded Kimberly of his days as the evil Green Ranger, "I suggest you all turn around, go back to your seats, and let the adults take care of things before someone else gets hurt."

Behind them, there was another crash, this time of the shattered glass variety. As it stood, the door couldn't withstand Bridge's body being thrown against it a second time. Seeing the Blue Ranger laying on the floor motionless, Tommy took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned around to stop Eric before the Quantum Ranger did more serious damage to the kid.

The last thing Tommy wanted was a dead ally, for he was certain that Pravus would not approve of a Ranger death that didn't occur in an official battle. Pravus hated the Rangers, that much was obvious; not once did Tommy doubt that Pravus was waiting, salivating for an excuse to kill another of the Rangers with his own hands. Tommy didn't have a problem stepping in Eric's line of fire if it meant keeping his friend alive.

"That's enough, Eric," said Tommy sternly, firmly grabbing his friend around the waist to no avail. Eric was running on nothing but pure anger and adrenaline; Tommy knew better than most what it felt like to be in that state of mind and how difficult it was to stop someone when they went to that incredibly dark place. "Guys," he continued, turning to the other veterans, "help me get him off."

Quickly, the Rangers scrambled to Tommy's aid, and it was a good thing too, because it took the combined effort of seven people to pry Eric away from Bridge. Even as they dragged the Quantum Ranger through the kitchen he still tried to keep fighting, swinging wild kicks in every direction imaginable.

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" yelled Eric, uselessly struggling to break free. "Do you hear me, punk? If Tommy doesn't kill you in the tournament, I'm gonna rip your fucking head off, you bastard!"

"That's a lovely image," Jen grumbled to Kimberly, eliciting a quiet chuckle from her fellow Pink Ranger as they shoved Eric onto the couch in the game room. Along with Dana, the two women stepped back, but the men remained firm, keeping Eric pinned down just in case he tried to make a break for it, a potential move that no one was willing to ignore.

Shooting up in his seat, Eric continued to fight against their restraints. "Get the fuck off of me!" Eric roared, writhing back and forth, trying anything and everything to get free. "He killed Taylor, now I'm gonna kill him!"

"No you're not, Eric," Wes replied, Andros and Carter on either side of him helping in the effort to keep Eric from entirely dismembering Bridge, which they knew he would if given the opportunity to do so.

"Eric, you kill Bridge and Pravus will probably kill you," Tommy interjected. Suddenly, everything went quiet. Eric stopped struggling and seven confused faces looked up at the White Ranger. Fortunately for Tommy, he was prepared to explain himself. "One of the first things Pravus said to us was that he admired bravery. For as good of a fighter as Taylor is, what Bridge did, choosing to fight a woman, was the complete opposite of brave. In some way, I guarantee you that Pravus will punish Bridge, and if he doesn't, I will in the tournament."

It was at that moment that the weight of everything that had happened finally set in over Eric. His eyes became stained with red, flooded with tears that slid down his face only to be replaced by more as quickly as they left. Arms wrapped around his legs, Eric curled himself into a ball on the couch, his face buried against his folded arms.

"She's really gone, isn't she?" Eric whimpered, slowly rocking himself back and forth. "She's really gone."

There was a chorus of murmured apologies from everyone but Jen who dropped to her knees in front of Eric and pulled him into a tight hug. Witnessing the death of someone she considered to be a close friend left Jen with a feeling of something new. It wasn't the anger that Eric was experiencing, though, it was the realization that what they were doing might not have been the right thing. Surely the Rangers should have been working together to stop Pravus instead of fighting amongst each other, even if that meant dying in the process.

"I am so sorry, Eric; so, so sorry," Jen whispered, rubbing his back tenderly as Eric cried against her shoulder. Sighing, Jen squared Eric up, forcing him to look at her. "She might not have always showed it, but Taylor loved you more than anything in the world. No one here is going to let her die in va—"

"She…she said that?" Eric interjected, cutting Jen off before she could finish completing the word _vain_. "She said she loved me more than anything?"

Jen smiled and nodded; Taylor hadn't said those exact words, but Jen knew that the Yellow Ranger had loved Eric and didn't see any harm in exaggerating a bit, especially when Eric seemed to brighten up almost instantly. Dropping down next to Jen, Tommy laid a hand on Eric's shoulder.

"I hate to tell you this, buddy, but that was the last time you're gonna be getting your hands on Bridge," said Tommy, wearing a small smile. "He's not even gonna make it to the third round."

Eric half-sniffled half-chuckled as he looked up at Tommy, wiping his eyes while nodding his head. "Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it, bro," Tommy replied, giving Eric's shoulder a light squeeze.

Once standing behind Tommy and Jen, Wes gently pushed his way in between them so that he could see Eric. As neither man was much for words, especially in situations like these, they shared a look that conveyed everything speech could not. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Wes laid his hand where Tommy's had been just moments before.

"I'm sorry, man," said Wes softly.

Eric nodded. "I know," he replied, looking around the room at his remaining friends. "I appreciate your sympathy, guys, but right now I just want to be alone for a little while. I'm gonna go upstairs. I'll see you all later."

That said, Eric got up from the couch and headed for the door as seven sets of eyes watched him leave. Just to be on the safe side, Tommy and Wes waited for a few seconds before following Eric to the door, peering into the hallway to make sure he didn't go after Bridge again. Once Eric had hit the stairs, the pair returned to the other veterans, none of them really sure as to what they were supposed to do.

Death; it was a word that bred finality, a place that, once you went there, you never came back from. Taylor had gone to that place, and they could scarcely believe that it had actually happened. Rangers just didn't die; they got hurt and maybe lost their powers, but more Rangers had died in the past two days than in the last fifteen years of their existence on Earth. It was a statistic that was as staggering as it was unbelievable.

The worst part of it all, though, was that no one had even the slightest idea of how to stop it.

--

In the bedroom that Bridge shared with Nick, Xander, and Will, the Blue Ranger was laid out on his bed, surrounded by the men and women of the SPD-through-Overdrive teams. Bridge, however, was completely unaware of this. He was unconscious, one eye swollen shut thanks to Eric's brutal assault earlier.

The enhanced regenerative abilities granted to all who had touched the Power had already begun to kick in—as evidenced by the bruises and cuts all over his face and body that were slowly starting to heal—but the injuries he had sustained were far too severe to recover from overnight. Still, knowing that Bridge would eventually be okay hadn't stopped his newfound friends from taking up a quiet vigil in his room.

Everyone but Nick, that is. While the other Rangers all sat around Bridge's bed in some capacity—some in chairs, some in the laps of others—Nick remained seated on his own bed. Leaning against the headboard with a pillow to prop him up, he stared blankly at the backs of Xander, Ronny, and Madison. His anger at the situation was apparent, his face and neck redder than the spandex he wore as a Power Ranger. More than anything, Nick wanted to hunt Eric down and give the Quantum Ranger the same treatment that he had delivered to Bridge.

For the briefest of moments, Mystic Force's Blue Ranger turned around and offered her boyfriend a comforting smile. The gesture did little more than anger Nick even more, for no reason other than the fact that he was already mad and in search of a reason to be madder. Sighing to herself, Madison silently dismissed herself from the group, joining Nick on his bed. An apathetic Nick offered no resistance, but showed no affection when Madison curled up against him, resting her head on his chest.

"This tournament is bringing out the worst in all of us, Nick," whispered Madison, lightly tracing her fingertips along his red tee shirt.

Nick scoffed. "This tournament is bringing out the worst in _them_," said Nick, obviously referring to the veteran Rangers. "We didn't even do anything to them and they were picking fights with us from the get-go. They go after us 'cause they think we're weak because we're younger than they are, but they're all being blinded by their own ambition."

"What do you mean?" asked Madison, looking up at Nick.

Letting out a deep breath, Nick slipped an arm around Madison's waist and pulled her in closer. "They're not thinking ahead. They're only focused on today and their next fight. But what happens if they manage to get rid of all the younger Rangers? They have to fight each other then, and I guarantee you not one of them has even thought about that yet."

Sighing again, Madison shrugged her shoulders half-heartedly. "Maybe, but it's hard to worry about the future when you don't even know if you're going to have one. Let's face it, Nick, none of us know if we're even going to see tomorrow."

Biting his bottom lip, Nick shook his head vehemently. For as badly as he didn't want to believe that, he knew it was true. Eric was going to be madder than all hell in his first official battle. He was going to want revenge for Taylor's death and since the only time he'd get to fight Bridge would be in the third round—if they both managed to make it that far—Nick knew that Eric would be gunning for one of the younger Rangers. Since Nick had finished in the top eight in the race, he wasn't one of Eric's choices, which left only Xander and Will.

The prospect of losing another friend made Nick sick to his stomach, but that his time with Madison could possibly come to an end trumped everything he felt towards the other Rangers. Madison had been the one who was always there for him, even when he felt like he deserved to be alone for the rest of his life. He didn't want to lose her, but couldn't ignore the fact that it was a very real possibility.

"Don't think like that, Maddy," said Nick, stroking her back gently. "We'll find a way to get through this. I just…I don't know, I guess. Something just doesn't feel right about all of this, like something really weird is about to happen."

Madison chuckled lightly. "Like this isn't weird enough?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Good Rangers fighting other good Rangers…how much weirder could it possibly get?"

Nick didn't have an answer for that, but someone else did. Thousands of light years away from Earth, in a system known as Tria, something was happening that would forever change the landscape of Power Rangers on Earth, something that no one, not even the most tenured of Rangers, were prepared for.

--

The next morning, perhaps the two most well-known couples in Power Ranger lore had taken to the beach; shirt-and-shoeless, Wes and Tommy sparred in the sand while Jen and Kimberly watched from a distance, laying on towels as they soaked in the mild Mexican sunlight. Clad in bikinis and sunglasses, the two women made small talk that was quickly bonding the pair. They'd known each other for only a few days, but had already discovered they had a lot more in common than either had been aware of.

Both were stubborn Pink Rangers who had just so happened to fall in love with stubborn leaders. Both craved approval from their loved ones, and both agreed that what they were doing in the tournament was wrong. What had bonded them the most, though, was that they were both on their second chances in relationships that were never supposed to happen.

Watching their men sparring with one another, Kimberly and Jen shared a knowing smile. Wes and Tommy were dripping with sweat, their hardened physiques in action drawing the full attention of the women. Behind her dark sunglasses, Kimberly noticed the instant change in Jen's demeanor when the Time Force Ranger's gaze shifted towards the villa.

"You okay?" asked Kimberly. "Tommy told me how close you and Taylor were."

Jen half-shrugged half-sighed. "When I decided to stay in this time, she was the first real girlfriend I had. We would go weeks and months without seeing each other then pick up like it had only been a few days," answered Jen, thankful for the glasses that hid her rapidly forming tears. "I feel like I lost my best friend. I mean, I love Wes to death, and Eric is great when he's not being a total asshole, but Taylor was the closest thing to a sister I've ever had, even more than Katie."

"Katie?" questioned Kimberly, raising a curious eyebrow. The original Pink Ranger had only received snippets of information from Tommy on the other Ranger teams. She knew nothing of this Katie person.

"My old teammate with Time Force. Yellow," Jen replied, Kimberly nodding her head. Wiping a tear from the bottom of her eye, Jen pretended to flick it away as if it were a stray eyelash, but Kimberly was not fooled so easily. "I just…what are we doing here, Kim? We should be fighting Pravus, not each other. None of this would be happening if we—"

"We'd all be dead, Jen," Kimberly interjected, albeit sadly. "We all tried to fight back and I ended up losing one of my best friends in the process. We've seen what Pravus is capable of; he'd kill us all if we gave him a reason to. And he's already said that he'll destroy Earth if we don't do this. Our biggest duty as Rangers is to protect this planet by any means necessary, and until we find a better way to do that, we have no choice but to do what Pravus says. Trust me, I hate it as much as you do, but keeping Earth safe has to be our first priority."

Chuckling, Jen shook her head slowly. "You know, I read all about you in the Ranger History class at the Time Force Academy," Jen started, getting Kimberly's complete attention, as well as a warm smile which was eagerly returned. She might not have been happy about being back in spandex, but the world would be hard pressed to find a Ranger more proud of their time served than Kimberly. "They said you were the heart of the team, the voice of reason when everything seemed like it was falling apart. You were, and still are, the Pink Ranger that all the others aspire to be. Now I see why."

Touched by Jen's comment, Kimberly beamed a bright smile towards her sister in pink. Being married to the "legend" Ranger, most of the compliments Kimberly had heard about the Rangers were directed towards Tommy. It was nice to be on the receiving end for once, and from someone other than her husband.

Kimberly was on the verge of replying when she noticed Wes and Tommy walking towards them, breathing hard. She reached for a towel and water bottle, tossing them to Tommy as Jen did the same for Wes. Nodding their thanks, the two men seemingly mimicked each other as they wiped their brows on the towles, opened the bottles, took long swigs, and wiped their foreheads one more time before flopping down in the sand next to the women.

"So what are you girls talking about?" asked Wes, running the cool plastic bottle all over his exposed upper body.

"Girl stuff," answered Jen quickly, faking an innocent giggle with Kimberly.

Tommy laughed, shaking his head at the same time. "Wes, say goodbye to Jen. She's just fallen victim to Kimberly's evil influence. Pretty soon she's going to be a shop-a-holic with a Valley Girl complex."

Kimberly playfully slapped Tommy's bare chest with the back of her hand. "Hey, I resent that. I mean, I may still be a shop-a-holic, but I, like, totally haven't been a Valley Girl since, like, 1994. Ugh, that was _so _yesterday."

"And yet you still play the part so well," Tommy teased. Flipping over on his side, he threw an arm around Kimberly's waist and scooted in, pressing his chest against her back. He placed butterfly kisses all over her neck, earning the jealousy of Jen in the process.

Time Force's Pink Ranger gave Wes a look that demanded similar affection post haste. Wes was more than happy to oblige, and for awhile the pair remained that way, basking in the warmth of the sun. They'd only been participants in this tournament for a few days, but already the stress of it all was beginning to take its toll. Relaxing in the sun worriless, if only for a short time, was a nice and very much appreciated change of pace.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later when Tommy heard the pitter-patter of approaching footsteps, two people by the sound of it. Cautious not to wake Kimberly, who had fallen asleep in his arms just moments ago, he looked to Wes and Jen, and jerked his head in the direction of the footsteps. All at once, they turned to see Andros and Carter running towards them at full speed.

"Wake up, Beautiful," said Tommy, pushing her shoulder as he rose to his feet. She groaned, stirring, but joined him nonetheless. Tommy got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when Andros and Carter came to a stop in front of the quartet, panting. Something major had happened, that much Tommy could tell just by looking at the two men. "What's going on, guys?"

"Eric…gone…fight," Carter managed, hands on his knees.

"Who's he fighting?" asked Wes.

Wiping his brow on his red tee shirt, Andros took a deep breath before answering, "Xander."

--

Closed now for nearly seven years, the place that had once been a famed New York City tourist attraction had now been turned into the newest arena for Pravus' tournament. Cautiously looking over his shoulder, Eric gazed down and winced at the sight of two hundred feet of nothing but air and the winding staircase that led from the base of the Statue of Liberty all the way up to its crown. Standing twenty or so feet away from Eric, Xander displayed a very similar reaction to the Quantum Ranger's.

Xander was well aware that if he fell, his death would be a very painful one at best. He wouldn't just fall straight down; his body would likely bounce off the twisted staircase at least a few times before he finally crashed into the unforgiving concrete. Swallowing deeply, Xander tried to force those thoughts out of his mind so he could concentrate on his opponent. As he'd been privy to on numerous occasions already, Eric was not to be taken lightly, but especially not when he was mad or agitated.

The flames of anger burned brightly in Eric's eyes; he wasn't mad or agitated, he was downright enraged and Xander knew it. Never in his time as a Ranger could the Australian import recall an occasion where he'd been more afraid of a fight then he was at that very moment.

Eric was afraid as well, albeit for very different reasons. He was more afraid that he might allow his anger to take control and end up making a stupid mistake that resulted in his own death because of it. Since he wasn't likely to get his hands on Bridge, Eric saw taking out another one of the new Rangers as his next best option for avenging Taylor. He couldn't let her die in vain for he'd never be able to rest peacefully if he failed.

Though they may not have always displayed it, Eric and Taylor as a couple had been far more in love than either one had ever been able to admit. She was as much a part of him as he was her. Their military upbringings had bonded them from the start, along with the chips they both seemed to carry on their shoulders. Over time—regardless that they fought far more than was normal for a healthy relationship—they'd grown to depend on each other.

With Pravus' glowing eyes staring at him from the shadows, Eric shuddered and forced himself to push Taylor out of his mind, at least for the time being. He'd have plenty of time to mourn after the fight, but his head needed to be completely clear if he was going to have any hope of making it that far.

"Go!" Pravus barked, drawing the attention of Xander and the ire of Eric.

Instead of instigating something with Pravus, though, Eric merely turned to Xander and smirked as he raised his wrist Morpher to his lips. "Quantum Power!" he yelled, morphing instantaneously, "Quantum Defender!"

With a beam of red energy heading straight for him, Xander was quick to summon his Mystic Morpher. "Legendary source, Mystic Force!" he called out. Just in time too; having immediately morphed into his upgraded form, Legend Mode, Xander's enhanced armor absorbed the brunt of Eric's blast. Still, the shot had enough power to make him grimace and stagger back a few steps.

Giving Xander no time to recuperate, Eric charged the Green Mystic Ranger at full speed with the intention to inflict as much pain on Xander as he could, in as little time possible. The first viable defense Xander could come up with was to use his magical abilities to his advantage. Pointing his Morpher at Eric, Xander fired an array of ultra-thick tree roots that wrapped around the Quantum Ranger, locking him in their grasp.

Almost instantly Eric felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs. Breathing was already becoming a struggle as he wiggled his fingers near the holster of his Quantum Defender, trying desperately to grab hold of it. Somehow, Eric was able to maneuver a finger around the trigger and pulled.

The blast singed all the way down his leg before rocketing into the root wrapped around his leg. On impact the root split in half and started to writhe in the air; now able to move his leg, he lifted it up and fired another shot, this one into the root surrounding his other leg. But he still couldn't breathe and darkness was beginning to set in.

In a last ditch effort, Eric used his legs to push him self backwards until his feet were pointing towards his visor. Closing his eyes as he braced himself for impact, Eric pulled the trigger again. The blast ripped through the root squeezing his waist and the bottom halves of his arms, but from so close the shot was strong enough to continue into his ribs.

Now able to move his arms somewhat, Eric tried to angle the blaster towards the root around his shoulders and upper arms. At the same time, though, Xander had decided that he'd seen Eric struggle enough; the Quantum Ranger was resilient, and Xander couldn't afford to give him the chance of escape. Seeing Xander running towards him, Eric prayed for the best and fired four shots in Xander's general direction. His aim wasn't precise, but two of the blasts made contact, grazing Xander's shoulder.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to grant Eric a few more free moments to escape his rooted restraints. Forcing himself onto his feet, Eric pointed the Quantum Defender right at his chest, closed his eyes, and fired. The root snapped away, freeing his arms completely while leaving a black scorch mark on his spandex uniform.

By the time Xander had recovered from the blast, Eric had ripped the final root away from his neck and was now on his knees, struggling to regain his breath. Panting hard, Eric looked up just as Xander's knee connected with his visor. Eric grunted in pain, falling onto his back; Xander left no time for him to recover, though.

Grasping Eric around the neck, Xander lifted him into the air until his feet were dangling over a foot from the ground. With relative ease, Xander tossed Eric up and, as the Quantum Ranger came down, executed a spin kick right to Eric's chest.

Arms flailing about wildly, Eric flew over the staircase, slamming back-first into the hard copper wall. He groaned on impact, slumping down the metal surface until he rested at its base, leaning back against it. Closing his eyes, he realized as he clutched his chest that he had severly underestimated the Green Mystic Ranger.

But when he opened his eyes a few moments later, Eric didn't see Xander; instead, he saw Bridge. Not even for a second did Eric think that it was his mind playing tricks on him. In that instant, the flame in his belly had been reignited. Slamming his fists against the floor, Eric let out a ferocious roar as he pushed himself back onto his feet.

"You're gonna die, bitch," Eric muttered softly, angrily. Yelling the whole time, Eric retrieved his Quantum Defender once more as he started his sprinting journey to Xander.

Not to be outdone, Xander summoned his Magi Staff, a powerful green axe, and decided to meet Eric halfway. Xander flipped to avoid a blast from the Quantum Defender; as he came down, he swung at Eric with his axe, jamming it between the Quantum Ranger's neck and shoulder. Applying as much pressure as possible, Xander yanked the axe back, dragging it at a violent diagonal across Eric's chest.

An eruption of smoke and sparks poured from Eric's chest as he spun through the air rapidly before his crash landing. On his stomach, Eric forced himself to look up at Xander; images of Bridge's mercilessly killing Taylor played out in the Quantum Ranger's mind. Angrily, he slapped the ground and pushed himself back up. This time, when Xander came charging with his axe, Eric was ready for it.

As Xander brought his axe down at Eric, the Quantum Ranger effortlessly launched himself into a backflip kick that connected perfectly with the shaft of Xander's weapon. The axe flew through the air, going end over end towards the staircase and the two hundred foot drop to the floor below. Xander moved as if he was going to attempt to catch the axe on its descent, but Eric was too quick.

"Not so fast," Eric growled. Grabbing Xander around the waist, he one-arm tackled the Green Mystic Ranger into a nearby wall. Then he jammed the side of his forearm into Xander's neck, cutting off the Green Ranger's air supply. "Sorry, _mate,_" Eric continued, "but I'm not through with you, yet."

Xander felt the wind being knocked out of him shortly after Eric's fist drove into his chest with a force the Green Ranger had never felt before. Sure, he'd fought foot soldiers and monsters just like every other Ranger, but not once had he ever done battle with someone who was more consumed with revenge than Eric.

The Quantum Ranger's need to avenge Taylor's death showed as he pounded Xander relentlessly with shots to his ribs and abdomen. Though Eric had let go of Xander's neck to provide a more thorough beating, his punches were coming so quickly that Xander had no chance of either escaping or blocking.

For nearly a minute, Eric pummeled Xander until the Quantum Ranger's fists and arms started to burn from the sheer amount of exertion being placed on them. Panting heavily, Eric's loud grunt accompanied his final punch, a shot that connected square with Xander's kidneys. With a groan, Xander slammed into the wall and then crumpled down it, slumping at the base.

"Don't go running off now, I've still got plans for you," said Eric smugly. Turning his back on Xander, Eric headed for the spiral staircase. Aiming his Quantum Defender at the upper railing, he fired a thin beam of red energy that immediately split the bar in two. Holding one of the bars at the center, he fired another shot to the railing so that he grasped in his hand a thick piece of metal roughly five feet long. Smirking, Eric chuckled in amusement. "I think this should work just fine."

Twirling the bar in an end-over-end fashion as he walked towards Xander, Eric stood before the Green Mystic Ranger, looked down at his motionless body, and smiled. Grabbing Xander around the neck, Eric lifted him up and pushed him into the wall, placing the bar against Xander's waist.

"Bear with me here for a minute, kiddo," Eric laughed, gently slapping the side of Xander's helmet. Knowing that this battle was drawing to a close, Eric smiled the whole time as he turned the Quantum Defender to its least powerful setting and then used it to literally weld Xander against the wall. The roots had been tough for Eric to break, but getting out of this was going to be damn near impossible for Xander. Admiring his handiwork, Eric pretended to smack the dust off of his hands. "There," he continued, using his hands to frame his view of Xander. "I knew that would do the trick."

Backpedaling until there was a solid twenty feet between himself and Xander, Eric focused on the Green Ranger and shook his head at the sight in faux apology. Unconscious with his arms pinned against his side and his head resting against his shoulder, Xander already looked dead, but Eric knew better. In a few moments, though, that would be an entirely different story.

"Well, kid, looks like this is the end of the line for you," said Eric, returning the Quantum Defender to its normal setting. Aiming at Xander, he prepared to pull the trigger, but something made him stop. Looking at the blaster, Eric grinned as he increased the weapon's power to full strength. Again, he took aim at Xander, and again something made him stop.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Eric struggled to combat the flurry of tears that was quickly threatening to fall. Having only fired the Quantum Defender at its highest setting once, Eric couldn't help but remember that one occasion.

Just over a year ago, he and Taylor had been driving from Turtle Cove to Silver Hills when Eric made a wrong turn and they found an open field of lush green grass. While the area may have been the perfect picnic spot for a normal couple, Eric and Taylor saw it as an ideal location for target practice.

A week later they returned to the field, this time carrying two punching bags with targets painted on them. Being a man and all, Eric had felt the need to showoff and thus cranked the Quantum Defender to its most powerful level. Both Trip and Circuit had warned him never to do such a thing unless it was absolutely necessary, but their words weren't exactly one of Eric's foremost thoughts at the time. It wasn't until he was thrown backwards onto his ass that he recalled their previous warnings.

Eric smiled as he recalled the way Taylor had teased him mercilessly, to the point he had instigated a wrestling match that eventually led to the couple making love right there in the middle of the field; an odd date for the average couple, indeed, but perfect for Eric and Taylor.

Then he remembered that he still had a job to do, and shook his head clear of Taylor and the many memories that came when he thought of her. Sighing, Eric opened his eyes and slowly pointed the Quantum Defender at Xander, who was only just now beginning to stir. It was too little, too late, though. In the few short moments it took Xander to realize what was happening, Eric was already squeezing the blaster's trigger.

What happened next was something that Eric, for as long as he lived would never be able to forget. There was a thunderous roar that echoed off the crown's walls, ringing in Eric's ears. Knowing what would happen when he pulled the trigger, Eric had braced himself for the weapon's recoil; instead of flying backwards, he just stumbled back a few feet. Dropping to his knees from the power of the sound, Eric barely looked up in time to see the blast make contact with Xander.

What was usually a thin beam, no more than a few inches wide, had become an eruption of power that stretched more than two feet in width. It burned various shades of red, orange, and yellow as it rocketed towards the Green Ranger. Eric's eyes went wide when the blast hit Xander, ripping a hole in the crown. Running to the edge of the newest entry into the Statue of Liberty, Eric watched as Xander, still welded to the wall, shuttled towards the watery depths of New York Harbor.

The splash that proceeded was so large that it left Eric staring at the spot where Xander had landed in disbelief, long after the waves had settled. Suddenly, a column of bright green light shot from the water's surface to the highest reaches of the sky.

"Ahh, fuck me," Eric groaned, using his forearm to shield his eyes. No sooner had the beam disappeared then he heard a _crack_ coming from somewhere behind him. Whipping around defensively, Eric found an amused Pravus looking back at him. "So, does that little light thingy mean he's dead?"

Smirking wickedly, Pravus nodded his head. "I suggest you watch the next battle closely, Quantum Ranger. I must say, the prospect of you fighting the lover of your closest friend is most…_interesting._"

Eric winced inwardly, having never given thought to the fact that, if Jen won her battle—which he did not doubt would happen—they would end up meeting each other in the next round. "Why don't you let me and Jen worry about that, alright? Just do your little hand wave and send me back to the house."

"As you wish, but heed my warning, Quantum Ranger," Pravus replied, pointing a gnarled finger at Eric. "For the duration of this tournament, should you display another unprovoked outburst such as the one you displayed yesterday, I will not hesitate to end your life."

Before Eric could say anything he felt his molecules being separated before they were launched into the air. Rematerializing in the living room of the villa, he was greeted by a roomful of people that was split down the middle emotionally. The veteran Rangers wore triumphant smiles, while the younger generation, especially Nick and Madison, stared smugly at the unmorphed Quantum Ranger. With a pulsing neck that was a deep shade of red, Nick looked like he was about ready to burst from the seams.

"Take it easy there, hotshot," said Eric nonchalantly. After shooting a wink towards Nick, he turned for the kitchen and retrieved a water bottle from the refrigerator. Opening the bottle, he took a long drink as he walked back to the living room, letting out a refreshed "Ahh," followed by the rhetoric, "So, did you guys enjoy the show?"

Nick moved to go after Eric, but found himself restrained by Will and Bridge, the latter of whom was now conscious and healing from Eric's assault. Eric merely laughed as he watched Nick struggle to break free from the firm hold that his new friends had on him. No matter how much he writhed and roared, Will and Bridge refused to let go of him.

"It's not worth it, man," said Will, pressing his body against Nick's even harder.

"Yeah," Bridge grunted with an affirming nod, "he'll get his in the tournament."

Already laughing at Nick, Bridge's comment made Eric downright roar. To him, at least, it seemed like these kids never passed up the chance to make fools of themselves. "That's pretty funny coming from the guy who was too big of a pussy to fight a man. You think you're something 'cause you killed a woman? You have no idea what you're in for, do you?" asked Eric, looking from Bridge to Tommy and then back to Bridge. "I've got one word for you, buddy; Saba."

Shifting his attention to Tommy, Bridge grimaced when the White Ranger made a cutthroat motion with his thumb. Taking a defiant step forward, Eric folded his arms across his chest as he stared at a clearly nervous Bridge. "If anyone is going to get there's in the tournament, it's gonna be your punk ass," said Eric firmly.

Touching his Morpher, the Quantum Defender suddenly appeared in his hands. Readjusting the power setting once again, he pointed it at the trio of male Rangers and laughed when their expressions grew fearful. Shaking his head, he turned around and aimed the blaster at a nearby wall. "One by one by one," he added, speaking slowly as he used the Quantum Defender to burn a series of words into the wall above the television, "you all lose."

Dismissing his weapon, Eric looked at his creation with pride. Permanently engraved in the wall were the names of every Ranger from the SPD through Operation Overdrive teams. Already gone, the names of Jack and Xander had large X's through them.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Wes took a step towards Eric and clasped his friend on the shoulder. "Classy, Eric, _reaaal_ classy," Wes chuckled, getting Eric to roll his eyes.

"You know, two can play that game!" Madison interrupted, capturing the focus of everyone in the room. Suddenly, the soft spoken young lady who had barely been noticed by any of the veteran Rangers was the center of attention. Ignoring their stares, Madison pointed her Mystic Morpher to the left of Eric's scribe. A thin beam of blue energy shot from the tip until she had spelled out Taylor's name and placed an X through it.

"Maddy, what in the world are you doing?" Nick hissed. "Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll see," Madison answered, her eyes never leaving Eric just in case he did try something.

As Eric's attention slowly shifted from Madison to what she had written in the wall, every other person in the room was preparing for the blowup from Eric that was sure to follow. But their surprise at Madison's interjection was only amplified by Eric's reaction. Reading the name silently, he gave a single apathetic nod before looking back to Madison. "Trust me, sweetheart, Taylor was more of a warrior than you, or any of your little friends will ever be. I'm sure you'll see that after the first round when she's there to kick your ass in the afterlife."

Following his profound statement, there was nothing left for Eric to say; the faces of Madison and Nick said it all. Wearing a victorious grin, Eric gave the pair a salute as he turned on his heels and headed for the stairs. Only in the safety of his bedroom would he be free to display his true emotions.

Locking the door behind him, Eric entered his room and quietly sat at the edge of his bed. Pulling his wallet from his back pocket, he retrieved a picture of himself and Taylor, one of the few that they had taken together. Jen had snapped the photo at the annual holiday party that Wes's father threw for his employees both at Bio-Tech and in the Silver Guardians.

The first of many tears to come touched Eric's eyes when they settled in on Taylor and how gorgeous she looked in the photo. Neither had ever been much for dressing up, but Taylor was something else when fancier attire was required. Tears slid down his face in rapid succession; never in his life had he longed to see her smiling face more than he did right now.

"I miss you, Taylor. I miss you so much," he sobbed, wiping at his eyes. "I may not be able to kick Bridge's ass for you, but I promise you, I'm going to make his life a living hell until Tommy ends it."

"Sounds good to me," came a voice from behind him, a female voice.

Whipping around, Eric could do little more than point with his mouth agape at the sight of Taylor standing just feet away. She looked mostly the same as she did before her battle with Bridge, but there was something different about her, which Eric easily recognized. Everything about her was softer, as if she was somewhere in between complete existence and not being there at all.

"T-Taylor?" asked Eric, his voice cracking.

"In the flesh," Taylor answered, laughing when Eric rolled his eyes. "Sorry, babe, bad pun. Mind if I sit with you?"

Swallowing deeply, Eric shook his head and scooted over, making room on the bed for Taylor. She settled down next to him with an appreciative smile; immediately, she took Eric's arm and put it around her shoulder. Instinctively, Eric leaned down and placed a tender kiss to the top of her head.

"I missed you," Eric admitted, earning another smile from Taylor.

"I missed you, too" Taylor answered. Closing her eyes, Taylor relished in the way Eric held her close, allowing herself just a few silent moments to enjoy his company one last time. When she eventually spoke, it was with conviction and a firm sense of reality that this would indeed be their final meeting. "You don't have to be the tough guy all the time, you know? Your life would be a whole lot easier if you were just nice to people sometimes."

Eric chuckled. "Yeah, but we both know that that's never really been my style. I don't need anymore friends. I've already got everyone I need," he answered, looking deep into her soft brown eyes, "except for you, that is."

Sighing, Taylor wrapped her arms around Eric's waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "I may not always be with you in the physical sense, but I'll always be in here," she replied, touching his heart as a single tear slid down his cheek. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough, baby. I'm so sorry."

"No, don't talk like that, Taylor," said Eric firmly, hugging her tightly. "You did everything you possibly could and I'm proud of you for it. Part of me thinks this is my fault, though. If I _had_ been a little nicer to Bridge, he might not have picked you."

Taylor shrugged. "Maybe, but we'll never know. I didn't come back to question what might have been, I came back to tell you that you didn't have to worry about me anymore. One way or another, you're going to get through this, I know it. Just stay strong for me, okay?"

Blinking away more tears, Eric nodded fiercely. "We'll be together again one day, Taylor, I promise."

"For your sake, I hope it's later rather than sooner," Taylor replied, gently cupping the side of his face in the palm of her hand. "I have to go now, sweetie. But before I leave, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything," said Eric without the slightest hint of hesitation.

"Don't mourn that I'm gone. Remember the good times we shared; smile, laugh…Hell, cry if you have to," said Taylor, wiping Eric's tears away. "But if you cry, make sure that they're happy tears. I don't want to have to come down here and repeat myself, alright? Apparently the man upstairs is pretty tight about letting the dead visit the living and, from what I've heard, you don't want to get on his bad side."

"Y-you mean he…he's _real_?" Eric sputtered, astonishment written all over his face.

"Who, Zordon?" asked Taylor, as if it was obvious that was who she had been referring to. "Of course he's real. Do you seriously not listen when other people are talking to you? Tommy and Jason have told hundreds of stories about him."

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, of course. I must have forgotten there for a second," Eric answered, shaking his head when Taylor started to laugh at him. "What's so funny?"

Biting her bottom lip to prevent herself from laughing, Taylor smiled helplessly as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know; you just make me laugh sometimes. It's part of what I love about you. But like I said, I gotta get going/"

His hands folded across his lap, Eric nodded solemnly. "I understand…I'll be okay. But before you leave for good, I want _you_ to promise _me_ something," he spoke, Taylor gesturing for him to continue. "Promise me that you'll never forget how much I love you, and how much I'll always love you."

Standing up, Taylor reached out and touched the side of Eric's face as she looked down on him for the final time. "Never," she whispered, kissing his hand. "Goodbye, my love." And with that, she was gone, leaving Eric to come to terms with what had just happened on his own.

Sighing, he mused that he'd been lucky to even see her again. Part of him took comfort in that, but another part just couldn't get over the fact that she was still gone. Then he remembered what she had told him a few minutes earlier and smiled. Taylor might not have been there physically, but she would always be with him in spirit.

That alone was comforting enough for Eric to fall back onto his bed and drift off into a deep, peaceful slumber. He fell asleep with a sense of satisfaction, having made peace with the loss of Taylor while eliminating another one of the younger Rangers. For Eric Myers, this day had been better than most.


	4. Events Unexpected

"_**Friends are made by many acts, and lost by only one," – Proverb**_

_**"We all lose friends.. we lose them in death, to distance and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home when you leave the light on," – Amy Marie Walz**_

"_**True friends stab you in the front," – Oscar Wilde**_

--

_Oltre a Vita e Morte_

_Chapter Four – "Events Unexpected"_

_Original Posting Date: September 9 , 2008_

"Something strange is going on here."

This was Jen's first conscious thought as she spun around in a slow circle, taking in everything that surrounded her. Where she was, she wasn't exactly sure; but then, the landscape was constantly changing all around her so picking out one location was pretty much impossible.

Facing to the north, Jen looked down a dark street made darker by the shadows of the skyscrapers looming overhead. Eastwardly was a beach; to the south, mountains. Turning to the west revealed a giant field of green grass as far as the eye could see. Then she looked to the north again only to find that the landscape had changed once again. Instead of the dark, deserted street, she was now staring at a place she hadn't seen in years; the inside of the clock tower that had once been home to the Time Force Rangers.

Through trial and error, Jen quickly discovered that these locations were a figment of someone's imagination. Whether or not it was her imagination was up for debate. Upon seeing the clock tower she had tried to enter, but as soon as she stepped forward the tower interior faded away into total darkness.

Then, suddenly, everything went dark, a darkness so profound that Jen could not see her hand when held to her face. The sound of piercing screams filled her ears, coming from every direction as she struggled to see what was happening.

As if by design there was a flicker of light that revealed the vague outline of a figure dropping to its knees. Jen watched on in horror, spinning in slow circles as the light began to appear more frequently. Bodies were dropping all around her as, one by one, the screams disappeared.

"No! No!" Jen yelled powerfully. "Enough! Stop this!"

Try as she might, it wouldn't stop. There was nothing she could do but watch for what seemed like an eternity. When the screams had finally subsided completely, Jen was on her knees with eyes closed, her hands covering her ears. Hesitantly Jen removed her hands from her head and allowed her eyes to flicker back open. The sight that beheld her made Jen scream in total shock.

All around Jen were the lifeless forms of the Rangers, not just the ones in the tournament, but all of them. She saw her teammates, their bodies sprawled out at horrible angles. Wes was only feet away from her, his face twisted in an expression of pain and disbelief. Every single person who had ever been a Power Ranger, no matter how brief their tenure, was dead.

Choking on her tears, Jen scrambled madly towards Wes's body. She clutched at his red t-shirt bloodstained a deep shade of crimson, sobbing into the shredded material. How could this have happened to so many people so quickly?

"I don't believe it. This can't be happening," Jen murmured through her tears, maintaining a firm hold on Wes. "How could you leave me, Wes? How could you do this to me?"

Hugging him with all her might, Jen buried her face against his chest. Her body started to quiver, slowly at first, but it was quick to gain speed. So alone, Jen held onto Wes for the longest time, unable to believe that he was truly gone.

"No, not you, Wes. Not you. Not you. Not you," said Jen softly, her voice growing quieter with each repition of the phrase. Then she screamed, shooting up in her bed as droplets of perspiration dribbled down her forehead. Her head jerked left and right before her eyes settled on Wes who, aside from looking like he'd just been woken by nearby gunshots, was staring back at her with a concerned expression.

"Nightmare?" asked Wes, Jen nodding, "How bad?"

"Pretty bad," answered Jen, shuddering as she wiped the sweat from her brow on the back of her arm. "I don't even want to talk about it. I'm just going to go downstairs and get a drink of water."

"Do you want me to come with you?" questioned Wes.

Jen shook her head. "Thanks, but I need a few minutes to myself to clear my head. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just go back to bed, k?"

"You sure?"

"Positive," said Jen, stealing a quick kiss from Wes.

Dressed in a pair of pink pajama bottoms and a white tank top, Jen slid her feet into a pair of fuzzy pink slippers and started towards the kitchen. As she descended the staircase, she noticed that the light in the kitchen was on. Silently, she prayed that it was another of the veteran Rangers for the last thing she was in search of was an altercation at three in the morning.

Turning towards the kitchen, she groaned inwardly when she saw a young woman in blue sitting with at the table with her back facing Jen. Looking to avoid a confrontation at all costs, Jen quietly moved in the direction of the refrigerator.

"Just so you know, I don't want to fight you," said Madison, staring at Jen's cautious reflection through the sliding glass door. "The others might, but I don't."

Caught off guard, Jen blinked rapidly in surprise. "Uhh, thanks," she murmured, reaching into the fridge for a bottle of water. She twisted the top off and went for a drink, but stopped when her eyes met those of a now standing Madison. Sighing, Jen closed the bottle and set it down on the counter. "Between you and me, I don't want to fight you either. In fact, I think this whole tournament is stupid."

Now Madison was the one to be surprised, chuckling as she shook her head from side to side. "Of all the girls here, I figured you were the one who wanted to be here the most. You always look like you're ready to rip someone's head off or something."

Jen laughed, helplessly shrugging her shoulders. "You do this long enough and you start to realize that there are very few people you can trust, even within the Ranger circle. A little force and a stern face go a long way in scaring unwanted people off."

Madison nodded, not necessarily in understanding, but at least in acceptance. "So why are you here if you don't even want to be here in the first place?"

If that wasn't the million dollar question Jen wasn't sure what was. "Honestly, I'm not even sure anymore. I mean, I don't think any of us showed up in Angel Grove that day thinking we were going to have to fight each other. But after Pravus killed Jason…if nothing else, it proved that, even though we're Rangers and do extraordinary things, we're still ordinary people. Deep down, I think seeing Jason die scared each and every one of us into going along with Pravus."

"It's like we knew it was wrong, but we still did it anyway," Madison supplied, getting an agreeing nod from Jen. "This is so weird. No offense, but all of this time I had thought you were just like Eric and the rest of the older guys."

"No offense taken. Don't get me wrong, the guys are great and I love them all, but I'm definitely not like them when it comes to this," said Jen, laughing for but a moment as her demeanor suddenly grew serious. "The sad truth is that I think we would all get along if we weren't in this situation. Eric, Wes, Tommy…they're all really great guys once you get to know them, but being here has forced all of us to choose sides; even me."

Closing her eyes momentarily, Madison shook her head. "That's not the sad truth. The sad truth is that none of us are ever going to have the opportunity to get to know each other. I don't see anyone trying to stop Pravus anytime soon and, unless someone does, we're still fighting until the last person is standing."

And that was when it hit her; Jen's nightmare came rushing back into her mind, invading her thoughts entirely. By the end of the dream, everyone but her was dead. She was the last person standing, alone in a world that she had no desire to be a part of. If being able to live meant seeing all of her friends die in the process…

"This tournament is going to destroy each and every one of us if something doesn't change in a hurry," said Jen bluntly, a little too bluntly for Madison who shuddered at the notion. "Fifteen of us are going to die, but I guarantee you that death is a better option than winning this tournament. I don't even want to think about how messed up in the head whoever wins is going to be when this is all over."

Madison raised a quizzical eyebrow to that. "You sound like you're going to just give up and stop fighting."

Jen shook her head fiercely. "I am _never_ going to stop fighting, just like I'm never going to stop giving up hope that we'll come together and find a way to stop Pravus before this damned thing consumes all of us."

Before Madison could reply, a flash of vibrant pink light illuminated the kitchen. "Jen, no!" she screamed as the light slowly began flickering. She heard the sound of bounding footsteps on the stairs followed by Wes who looked both defensive and startled at the same time.

With more footsteps following closely behind him, Wes bound across the kitchen and gripped Madison's shoulders tightly. "Where is she?" he demanded through gritted teeth. Frightened, Madison shook her head, unable to speak as she tried to tell Wes that she didn't know. "Where is she!? What have you done with Jen!? You better start talking right now or so help me God, I'll…"

Wes's proclamation was silenced as two men barreled into his side, driving him as far away from Madison as possible. Driven into a wall and held there, Wes looked down to see that it was Andros and Tommy who had intervened. He struggled against their restraints, but the two men remained firm.

"Don't be like Bridge," growled Tommy, pointing a stern finger in Wes's face. Ignoring Tommy, Wes continued in his attempt to break free, but this only made Andros and Tommy push him back even harder.

"Come on, Wes, you're better than this," added Andros, pleading with his friend to calm down. "Don't lower yourself to that level by doing something that you're going to regret."

By this point the kitchen was filled and surrounded by the rest of the remaining Rangers, all of them eager to see what the commotion was about. At the center of it all was Madison, visibly shaken as she held onto Nick with everything she had.

"Where is she!?" shouted Wes, his face burning red.

"I don't know, alright!" Madison screamed back, her eyes brimming with tears. "We were down here talking and then she just disappeared! I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"Pravus," announced Eric, making his presence known for the first time as he manuevered through the crowd of Rangers. As he passed by Madison, he gave the young woman a compassionate smile. She had stood up to him earlier and, whether he liked her or not, he respected her for doing it. Standing in front of Wes, he looked his best friend right in the eye and smirked. "Don't be an idiot, Collins."

Those five words were all that needed to be said for Wes's shoulders to sag in defeat as he slumped to the ground, the realization of what was happening hitting him at full force; it was Jen's turn to fight. Swallowing deeply, Wes closed his eyes and prayed that the brief conversation they had shared together following her nightmare would not be their last.

--

In the control room of Lightspeed Rescue's Aquabase, Pravus stood with his arms folded behind his back as he and Jen stared each other down. She'd already been told that the time had come for her to choose an opponent, but after nearly ten minutes with Pravus she had yet to give him a name. With each passing minute that Jen remained silent, Pravus progressively grew more and more impatient.

Before her conversation with Madison, Jen probably wouldn't have even thought twice about choosing one of the younger Rangers—perhaps even Madison herself—but everything had changed after just a few short minutes in the kitchen with the Blue Mystic Ranger.

"I grow tired of this foolishness. Either choose now, Pink Ranger, or I will choose for you. You have ten seconds." said Pravus, his black eyes crackling with what looked like golden bolts of lightning. Arms across her chest, Jen remained firm in her refusal to play along with Pravus. When the ten seconds had elapsed, Pravus let out an angry growl. "Fine, have it your way. I shall enjoy watching you and your friend tear each other apart."

With a wave of his hand, Pravus was gone in a burst of black and gold energy, quickly replaced by a flash of pink. Jen's mouth fell open in shock when she saw confused expression of Lightspeed Rescue's Pink Ranger. At the realization of what had just happened, though, Dana Grayson's confusion turned to anger almost immediately.

"I can't believe this. You chose _me_!?" Dana shouted incredulously. "I guess the truth really does come out in bad situations."

"No, Dana, please…you don't understand," said Jen, trying desperately to reason with her friend. "I didn't—"

"Save it, Jen," Dana interjected, shaking her head. "You were supposed to be my friend. I trusted you, and you betrayed me. Now it's time to pay for that. Lightspeed Rescue!"

Fully morphed with her V-Lancer drawn, Dana charged full speed at Jen. The Pink Time Force Ranger truly had no desire to do battle with Dana, but it was also clear that there would be no reasoning with Lightspeed's Pink Ranger. In an act based solely on self-preservation, Jen moved her arms across her chest, swinging them behind her head as she activated her Chrono Morpher and called out, "Time for…Time Force!"

A bitter taste resonated in Jen's mouth as she ran towards Dana. The two women dove at each other; meeting in midair, they grasped onto one another's forearms, struggling to gain an advantage. Using her forward momentum and her hold on Dana, Jen pulled herself in and drove a knee right into her friend's midsection.

Groaning as she plummeted towards the ground, Dana swung her V-Lancer, slashing it across her chest. Crying out in pain, Jen slammed into the hard floor at the same time as Dana. Both women were quick to get back on their feet, charging each other once more. This time, though, Jen ran with her Chrono Saber, combining both sides to create a lance capable of combating Dana's elongated weapon.

Loud pangs filled the room as the two lances crashed together, Dana and Jen moving in a constant flow of strikes, blocks, and counter attacks. Jen swung her Chrono Saber directly at Dana's head, but the Pink Lightspeed Ranger narrowly ducked underneath the weapon. However, Jen took her momentum from the swing and used it to spin herself around, dropping to one knee in the process.

Dana looked down just in time to see Jen explode upwards, swinging her lance in an uppercut fashion. The blow connected with the bottom of Dana's helmet, causing her head to snap back as she was sent flying through the air. She landed face first on the ground and felt her forehead slam violently against her helmet. Her head throbbed as she struggled to get back on her feet, grimacing from the pain shooting throughout her entire body.

"Get up," Jen demanded, kicking Dana in her ribs. In her heart, Jen knew that what she was doing was wrong, but the only thing she could focus on was saving her own life, exactly what Pravus wanted her to be doing. Standing tall over Dana, Jen placed her foot on Dana's throat and pointed her Chrono Saber, converted back into two separate swords, at the Pink Lightspeed Ranger's head. "I didn't want to do this, Dana, but you didn't give me any other choice."

Raising one of the swords high above her head, Jen waited momentarily as if she expected Dana to make some last ditch effort to save herself, but Dana remained motionless. Taking a deep breath, Jen prepared to deliver the killing blow. Her arms plummeted towards the ground, the tip of the sword heading straight for Dana's throat. Then everything came to a halt.

Jen's nightmare flashed in her mind, causing her to flinch just inches away from her intended target. At that moment Jen realized how right Madison had been when she had said that Jen wasn't like the other veteran Rangers. See, unlike them, Jen could not bring herself to kill a fellow Ranger, even one who had attacked her so viciously.

Dropping her swords she turned around, unable to look at Dana. So distraught, Jen did the one thing she had promised herself long ago that she would never do; she let her guard down in a fight. The pink blast of energy that connected with Jen's back was so powerful that it sent her hurtling forwards, flipping wildly through the air.

When Jen finally landed she had flown so far that she was no longer in the Aquabase's control room. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and, while she wasn't engulfed in flames, her armor was singed from where the blast had connected. The pain was amplified tenfold when Jen felt her body suddenly demorph, the Power leaving her completely.

Staggering towards Jen, each step a constant struggle as she clutched at her shoulder, Dana smirked beneath her helmet. "Welcome to one of the Aquabase's many underwater tunnels," she spoke calmly, summoning her Rescue Blaster. Standing in the middle of an open blast door, Dana fired a beam of pink energy directly into the wall of the tunnel until she'd created the tiniest of holes. A small stream of water started to pour in instantly. "Eventually the incoming water will create so much pressure that the glass just shatters, but don't worry, you'll have drowned long before that happens."

Slowly pushing back onto her feet, Jen made one last ditch effort to save herself. She started towards Dana who just laughed as Jen faltered in the water and fell. Still, Jen refused to give up that easily. She got back up and continued after Dana only to slip and fall again after only a few feet of forward progress.

"Well, it's been fun, but I gotta go," said Dana. Taking a few steps backwards, she placed her hand on the blast door's control panel and waved goodbye to Jen. Pushing in one of the buttons, the door immediately sealed shut, creating a barrier between the two women that was nearly indestructable.

Back in the Aquabase's control room Dana took a seat, waiting patiently as the water methodically filled the tunnel interior. It wasn't until she heard Jen banging her fists against the door, begging to be released, that Dana fully started to comprehend what she had just done. Swiftly, she was back on her feet and running to the door with every intention of saving Jen from her watery grave.

She pushed the button that controlled the blast door, but nothing happened; she started jabbing it over and over with her thumb to the same result. The door just wouldn't open and Dana knew exactly why.

Dana had momentarily forgotten that each and every one of the Aquabase's underwater tunnels contained special sensors that monitored the level of water inside. Anything over that of fifty or so humans and the doors went into total shutdown as a defense mechanism against potential flooding.

Unfortunately, remembering this did very little to help her current predicament. Her father, Carter, and Angela Fairweather were the only three members of Lightspeed Rescue with access to the override codes. Jen was trapped and there wasn't a damn thing that Dana could do about it. Tears filled her eyes as she realized the weight of her actions. She'd been so blinded with rage that she hadn't truly known what she was doing; action without thought. Full on crying now, Dana pressed her body to the door and listened closely, unable to make out what Jen was saying.

"I'm so sorry, Jen. I'm so sorry," said Dana softly. From behind the door Dana could see the faintest hint of pink light and then she was gone, taken back to the house. Aside from Carter who was quick to her side, pulling her into his arms, no one moved an inch when she arrived in a living room full of astonished Rangers. "Oh God, Wes. Where's Wes? I have to talk to him."

"I don't think that's such a good idea right now, sweetheart," Carter replied, gently stroking her back.

"Dammit, Carter, I don't care what you think right now," Dana shot back, freeing herself from her husband's embrace. "I need to talk to Wes, and since you won't tell me where he is I'll ask the others. Where's Wes?"

Staring back into a sea of expresionless faces, some of those belonging to people who were supposed to be her friends, Dana waited for just one of them to say something, anything, but not a single word was spoken. Scoffing, she shook her head in disbelief. "Fine, I'll just search every room in this God forsaken house until I find him."

Watching his wife go, Carter sighed in defeat and called out for her. "He's in the gym working out. Just…promise me that you'll be careful."

Dana simply rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Carter, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

Carter's eyes never left Dana as she went off to find Wes. "I hope you're right, Dana," he murmured, shaking his head. "I hope you're right."

Alone as she walked through a long, curving stretch of hallway, Dana did her best to prepare herself mentally for the situation she was about to walk into. Standing in front of the double doors that led to the gym she swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed through the doors, letting out a tiny gasp when she saw Wes.

Shirtless in a pair of black workout shorts, the Red Time Force Ranger bounced around from station to station, never staying at the same place for more than twenty seconds. He went through a series of rapid pullups on a high bar before moving to the bench press racked with three-hundred pounds of weight. From there he dropped to the ground and began doing pushups, elevating and clapping each time on his way up. Then it was to the punching bag where he beat it relentlessly with bare fists.

His knuckles burning, Wes turned around in search of some dumbells and found Dana standing by the entrance, watching him intently. Fire burned in Wes's eyes, his fists clenched together tightly as he stared down the person who had killed the only woman he had ever truly loved. Breathing quickly, he snatched up the dumbells and put his back to Dana once more, knowing that looking at her would only make things worse.

He'd yet to cry over Jen's death; his anger over losing her far surpassed his sadness at the moment. Grunting as he curled the heavy weights Wes closed his eyes, trying to ignore the soft pitter-patter of approaching footsteps. The closer they grew the harder he lifted until Dana was only a few feet away. Letting the weights slip out of his hands, crashing loudly against the floor, Wes spun around and looked right at her, growling, "Leave, now."

Biting her bottom lip, Dana shook her head. "I'm sorry, Wes, but I can't do that; not until you hear me out at least."

"There's nothing you can say to me that's going to change how I feel," said Wes through gritted teeth. "You took away the most important thing in my life and now I'm going to do the same thing to you. Enjoy what little time with Carter you have left."

That having been said, Wes brushed passed a shocked, frozen Dana en route for the exit. She'd known Wes for nearly seven years and had never seen anything from him that even remotely resembled his reaction to her, the exact reaction that Pravus was hoping for. A veteran Ranger had just killed another veteran; things in the house would never be the same again.

--

Later that afternoon, the veteran Rangers who weren't at odds with one another sat outside on the patio overlooking the beach discussing the events that had transpired earlier. Carter, Dana, and Wes were all understandably absent from the group. Losing a veteran to another veteran was something that none of them had been prepared for.

"This changes everything," said Eric who, though he was stinging on the inside, was hiding his emotions over Jen's death rather well. They'd grown so close over the last six years to the point that their relationship had become almost brother-sister in nature. In just under twenty-four hours he had lost the two women he was closest to in the entire world, not an easy pill to swallow by any stretch of the imagination.

"How do you figure?" asked Tommy. He raised an eyebrow at Kimberly when she stole a drink of iced tea from his glass, but she just smirked back at him defiantly.

"Look, I've never had a problem with Carter and I still don't, but Wes is like a brother to me. Unless we somehow end up fighting each other, I'm always going to be on his side," answered Eric, using the phrase that they had all tried to avoid. No one wanted to choose sides more so than they already had, but it was becoming more and more obvious that added division in their ranks would be inevitable. "Dana's obviously going to be on Carter's side, but what about the rest of you?"

Andros shook his head. "I'm not choosing sides. Carter and Wes are both my friends; if they have a quarrel with each other, then that's between them."

"If you ask me, that's how it should be," Kimberly interjected. "Don't get me wrong, Eric, I understand why you feel the way you do. Hell, I'd probably feel the exact same way if I was in your shoes, but you can't expect the rest of us to choose a side just because you are."

Eric scoffed, unable to believe what he was hearing. "What about you, Tommy?"

"I'm staying out of this, bro," said Tommy, earning a glare from Eric. "Before you go and get all pissed off, let me explain why. I'm speaking strictly from a tactical standpoint when I say that choosing a side in this situation is a terrible idea. I mean, what happens if we all side with Wes, and Carter ends up winning, or vice-versa? Instead of losing one ally, we've just lost two. It just doesn't make sense if we're ever going to try and stop Pravus."

Just like that, the topic of conversation had suddenly changed. Even Eric momentarily dismissed his anger about Carter and Wes in lieu of what Tommy had just said. Apparently, aside from Kimberly who he had previously discussed this with, Tommy was the only one who hadn't completely forgotten why they were fighting each other.

"Tommy, you saw what happened the last time we tried to go against him," said Andros gloomily.

"No offense, Andros, but Kim and I didn't have our powers the first go around. None of you have ever seen anything close to the things that we're capable of doing when our connections to our animal spirits are at full strength," Tommy replied. Staring at the Red Space Ranger, Tommy's lips curled into a half-smirk, his eyes briefly crackling white as the falcon's piercing cry echoed in the distance. "I can guarantee you that things will be different the next time we go against him."

Though undoubtedly impressive, cheap parlor tricks were not enough to convince Eric. "What makes you so sure?"

Chuckling, Tommy stood up and offered his hand to Kimberly. Smiling knowingly, she took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled onto her feet. "You ready?" asked Tommy softly.

"Always," Kimberly answered, nodding.

Concentrating on their animal spirits, the pair moved their hands in familiar fashion. "Ninjetti!" they called out in unison.

"The Falcon!" shouted Tommy. An incredible sense of warmth filled his entire body almost instantly as his white Ninjetti robes settled into place.

"The Crane!" yelled Kimberly, her own transformation experience much the same as Tommy's.

Together, Tommy and Kimberly launched into back flips that carried them off the patio and onto the beach below. Sharing an interested look with each other, Andros and Eric watched as Tommy held up his hands. "Toss me that football underneath the table!"

Picking up the ball, Eric threw it towards Tommy, but missed short by a good ten yards. Hands on his hips, Tommy shook his head and then ran to retrieve the ball. Jogging back to Kimberly, he came to a stop a few feet away from her and pointed towards the ocean. Without a word, Kimberly started sprinting in that direction.

To Andros and Eric's disbelief, Kimberly literally ran on top of the water. As she ran, Tommy tossed the football high into the air; on the ball's descent, Tommy executed a tornado kick that connected directly with the ball, sending it flying towards Kimberly. Her feet slapped against the ocean as she dove, extending her arms to catch the ball. With the football in hand, she entered the water without even the tiniest of splashes.

When Kimberly didn't come back up, Tommy took off running towards the ocean. Diving in, he swam as quickly as possible to where she had just been. After nearly five minutes had passed with no sign of either one, Andros and Eric looked to each other in concern.

"Where'd they go?" asked Andros.

As if on cue, someone loudly cleared their throat. Hesitantly, Andros and Eric slowly turned around to see both Tommy and Kimberly standing behind them wearing sly grins, completely dry with their arms folded across their chests.

"Anymore questions, guys?" asked Kimberly.

Impressed by what he had seen, Andros shook his head. Eric, however, still was not convinced of Tommy's assertion that he and Kimberly were somehow stronger than the other Rangers. "How is being able to walk on water and disappear going to help us against Pravus?" asked Eric. "He doesn't exactly strike me as the type that would have a problem dealing with something like that."

Tommy half-smirked. "So what you're saying is that you need some proof that's a little more…_physical_?" he asked, Eric nodding. "I think I've got just the thing. Morph and meet us on the beach."

Leaping backwards, Tommy and Kimberly turned into blurs of white and pink energy shooting towards the open stretch of warm sand. They reappeared fifty yards from the villa and immediately dropped into fighting stances, their faces now veiled as they waited for Andros and Eric to arrive.

Fully morphed, the two men in red walked across the beach in the direction of where Tommy and Kimberly stood ready to fight. "What's this all about?" asked Andros, waving his hand. "You don't actually expect us to fight you guys, do you?"

"You wanted to see what we were capable of," answered Kimberly. "What better way to show you than this?"

Looking from the two Ninjetti to Andros, Eric shrugged. "I'm game if you are, man."

Andros sighed helplessly, nodding his head in agreement.

"I got dibs on Eric," said Kimberly so that only Tommy could hear her.

"Works for me," Tommy replied.

Giving no warning, Tommy and Kimberly sprung into the air, flying at a diagional towards Andros and Eric; crossing in mid-air, they cocked their fists back as they prepared to descend on their targets. However, instead of punching the two men, Tommy and Kimberly landed tall atop their shoulders. Andros and Eric looked up just as the two Ninjetti launched into corkscrew flips, landing softly in the sand.

With their backs facing Tommy and Kimberly, Andros and Eric spun around defensively only to be sent flying across the beach via a pair of simultaneous snap kicks from the Ninetti. In the time it took them to make it back to the fight, Eric had retrieved his Quantum Defender and Andros had summoned his Astro Blaster.

"How about some fire power!?" Eric called out, shooting one long, constant blast of red energy at Kimberly as Andros did the same with Tommy.

Beneath their masks, Tommy and Kimberly looked at each other and smiled, each of them holding up a single gloved hand. The blasts just seemed to stop inches away from their hands, building up into two balls of glowing, crackling energy that quickly changed from red to their own colors.

"I strongly suggest getting out of the way," warned Tommy.

Thrusting their arms forward, Tommy and Kimberly sent two huge bursts of white and pink energy directly at Andros and Eric. The Quantum and Red Space Rangers dove out of the way, landing face first in the sand as the energy blasts skimmed overhead. They looked over their shoulders just in time to see the blasts rocket ino the ocean, creating an eruption of white and pink light shooting into the sky.

In the blink of an eye Tommy and Kimberly were standing above their grounded friends, offering them both a hand up. "Like I was saying earlier," Kimberly started, helping Eric onto his feet, "anymore questions?"

"Yeah," Eric answered, his heart still thumping against his chest. "When do we start?"

Sighing, Tommy shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, bro, I have no idea. It's pretty hard to plan anything when the people you have to work with might not even be there when the time comes to put that plan into action. I can promise you this, though. We _will_ strike back, and when we do, Pravus won't know what hit him."

With that, the Rangers de-morphed and started back towards the house. They'd only made it a few feet when Andros suddenly stopped. "Hold on," he called out, waiting for the others—specifically Tommy—to turn around, "I have one more question. How come you took me down so easily, but struggled with Jack?"

Recalling his fight with SPD's Red Ranger, Tommy laughed heartily. "Two reasons, actually. First of all, Kim and I had just had our connections to the Ninjetti reestablished so I wasn't really at full power at the time. Secondly, I took it easy on him; he seemed like a nice enough kid and I didn't want his last memory to be a complete ass kicking."

Kimberly rolled her eyes. "Such a kind hearted man I've married," she said teasingly. Latching onto his waist as Tommy put his arm around her shoulder, the quarted continued their walk back to the villa.

Ten minutes later they'd made it back and gone their separate ways; Eric to check on Wes, Andros to see how Carter was doing, and Tommy and Kimberly to enjoy a brief moment of peace and quiet in their bedroom. They laid side-by-side on their stomachs, their heads at the foot of the bed as they watched television in relative silence; or, rather, Tommy watched television. Kimberly vaguely paid attention to the screen, her eyes wandering just as much as her thoughts were at the moment.

Tommy had seen this from her often enough to recognize the signs. Something was bothering her, and usually that meant she wanted to talk so he scooted in closer, asking softly, "What's on your mind, Beautiful?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing; just thinking, I guess," Kimberly replied, her voice distant. Furrowing his brow, Tommy stared back at Kimberly as if to ask her who she thought she was trying to fool. "It's just…remember how Zordon used to say that the Power would always protect us? Do you think he really meant it, or was he just saying it as a way to make us all feel better?"

Tommy pouted his lips thoughtfully. "I really don't know, Kim. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, I guess I kind of always felt like that applied to all the Rangers, that the Power would always keep us safe," Kimberly answered, closing her eyes. "But how can that be when Rangers are killing other Rangers? How is it that attacks that normally would have left us injured are now killing us?"

Tommy opened his mouth to answer, but promptly shut it. He had actually asked himself that same question, countless times in fact, and had developed something of a theory, but he wasn't too sure how correct that theory was.

"I'm not positive on this, but do you remember right after Jason, Zack, and Trini left for Switzerland?" asked Tommy, Kimberly nodding. "Adam, Rocky, and Aisha were standing right there in front of Zordon as he explained the responsibilities of the Power to them. He said 'Use it to defend, never to attack; to ensure justice, never for vengeance; to preserve righteousness, never for selfish glory. Remember this and it will protect you forever.' I think the Power stopped protecting us as soon as we started using it for all the reasons Zordon told us not to."

If nothing else, it made sense to Tommy. Everything that the Rangers had been doing over the past few days totally went against Zordon and his teachings. The more Tommy thought about it, the less farfetched his theory started to sound.

"You know, I never really thought of it that way," Kimberly replied, clearly pondering Tommy's idea. "I think you might be onto something. Except, that still doesn't explain how Jason died. He made it through a lot worse when we were kids, plus it happened before we had all agreed to compete in the tournament."

"I've been thinking about that a lot, but the truth is that I just don't know," said Tommy, hating that he had to admit he didn't have all the answers. He'd never longed to hear one of Billy's perfectly reasonable explanations for completely unreasonable activities more so than right now.

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Groaning at the disturbance, Tommy rolled off the bed and onto his feet. Crossing the room, he opened the door to find Eric standing in the hallway, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Wes is gone," Eric states as soon as he saw Tommy. "Carter, too, by the look of it."

Tommy sighed in defeat. "Alright, man. We'll be downstairs in a minute."

--

Standing on the top floor of the Silver Hills Clock Tower, a place that had once been his home as an active Ranger, Wes couldn't help but smile as he stared Carter down, the two Red Rangers circling each other defensively. They eyed one another carefully, each waiting for the other person to make the first move. Neither had activated their Morphers yet, but both were prepared to do so at a moment's notice.

"You don't have to do this, Wes," said Carter softly.

Laughing deeply, Wes shook his head. "Yes, I do, Carter," he replied, looking down at his Chrono Morpher. "You have no idea what it feels like to lose the one person you love more than anything in the entire world. Your wife is going to know how exactly it feels in a few minutes, though. Time for…Time Force!"

"Lightspeed, Rescue!" shouted Carter, flipping open his Rescue Morpher as a rush of power washed over him.

The time for formalities had just officially ended; with his Chrono Saber drawn, Wes charged at Carter. Summoning his V-Lancer, Carter held the lance up just in time to block Wes's saber strike then deliver a snapping side kick to the Time Force Ranger's abdomen. Quick to recover, after staggering back a few steps Wes rushed Carter once more.

Carter swung his lance at Wes, but Wes ducked the attack and countered with an elbow to the side of Carter's helmet. Swiftly, Wes followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent Carter's lance flying through the air, landing with a crash on the opposite side of the room.

Fueled by anger, blinded with rage, Wes let loose with a vicious array of attacks that were simply too fast for Carter to counter. The Red Lightspeed Ranger managed to block a few, but that was the extent of his retaliation. Fists and feet flew like lightning, relentlessly beating every inch of Carter's head and upper body.

Pain tore throughout Carter's entire body as Wes landed a kick to his chest that left him stumbling backwards. From behind him, the sunlight creeping through the stained glass clock face cast an eerie glow over Carter who looked like he'd just been to Hell and back. Chrono Saber in hand, the Red Time Force Ranger methodically made his way to Carter. When he stood less than a foot away from his opponent, Wes grabbed Carter and pressed the tip of his saber to Carter's stomach.

Through Carter's shattered visor, Wes could see the pleading eyes of the man who had been his friend just hours earlier. "Please, Wes, don't," Carter begged, but Wes felt no remorse for what he was about to do.

He looked into those eyes and smirked beneath the protection of his helmet as he drove his Chrono Saber right into Carter's midsection, the Red Lightspeed Ranger roaring in pain. Wes let go of his hold and watched Carter stumble back even further, hovering dangerously close to the glass clock face.

"That was for Jen," said Wes, running towards Carter, "And this is for me!"

Launching into the air, Wes flew at Carter and connected with a kick to the Red Lightspeed Ranger's chest. The sound of glass shattering filled the room, broken pieces raining down on Carter as he plummeted to the ground below. Wes didn't even wait to see the end result of his actions. Instead, he turned around in expectance of that which he already knew to be coming; his return to the house and a confrontation with at least one pissed off Ranger.

Surprisingly enough, though, Wes encountered neither for quite some time. Long after Carter's body had disappeared Wes still remained alone in the clock tower. For nearly half an hour he explored the tower, steadily growing sadder and sadder with each passing minute. He'd see something that reminded him of Jen, of some memory that they had shared together, and just start crying uncontrollably.

By the time he'd finally been summoned back to the house, arriving in an oddly vacant and silent living room, he had long since run out ouf tears. "Hello! Is anyone here!?" he called out, peeking into an empty hallway. Not a sound could be heard aside from those Wes created himself. "Eric? Tommy? Anybody?"

He was making his way towards the kitchen when he saw Tommy running towards the sliding glass door from the beach. The White Ranger burst into the house, breathing hard as he looked up at Wes.

"What's going on?" asked Wes.

Struggling to catch his breath, Tommy raised his arms high above his head. "Dana," he answered in between breaths. "As soon as your fight with Carter ended she said that she couldn't deal with this anymore, ran outside, and called out Pravus. He killed her almost instantly."

Wes didn't even flinch. "Am I supposed to feel bad for her? Look, man, I didn't make Dana go after Pravus, that was her own decision."

Tommy sighed. Wes was still far too angry to have any sort of reasonable conversation with. "Three good Rangers died today and most of us are acting like we don't even care. If you really don't care that Carter and Dana are gone, that's fine; you make peace with that the way you want to. But deep down, Wes, I know that you aren't this person. You're letting your emotions control you and that's exactly what Pravus wants you to do."

Wes knew that Tommy was right; in his heart of hearts, he wasn't a bad person, he'd just been forced into a bad situation. Still, Tommy's little speech did little in changing the way Wes felt about his actions, at least for the time being. "You have no idea what it feels like to lose someone you—"

"What, to lose someone you care about?" Tommy interjected, shaking his head as Wes nodded his own. "Don't even start with that shit, bro. In case you forgot, my best friend died less than a week ago. At some point in our lives, we've all lost someone we care about. That's part of life, though. The more you focus on it the more it eats at you, until pretty soon it's all you ever think about. Listen, I'm not gonna sit here and lecture you. All I'm going to say is that you're better than this and leave it at that."

Wes started to reply, but stopped when he saw the remaining Rangers approaching the back door. Looking over Tommy's shoulder at them, Wes was surprised to see that even some of the younger Rangers seemed upset. Madison, in particular, was visibly distraught. He was caught even more off guard as Madison entered the house and started right for him.

Wearing an incredibly saddened expression, she looked up at the Red Time Force Ranger and smiled softly. "I know you don't like me, and that's okay. To be honest, I don't really like you either. I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what happened to you. Jen was a genuinely good person."

With that, Nick came up behind Madison and put his arm around her shoulder, glaring at Wes as he and the remainder of the young Rangers exited the room. Wes could do little more than watch them go, staring at Madison's back with his mouth agape in disbelief. The other veterans looked at Wes expectantly, waiting for him to say something. Finally, once the kids had disappeared, he turned around and faced his friends with tear-filled eyes.

"I'm so sorry, guys," Wes murmured, letting his eyes wander down to his feet.

"You don't have anything to apologize for, bro," said Tommy, clapping Wes on the shoulder. "You did exactly what each and every one of us have either already done, or are going to have to do at some point in the near future; fight to stay alive."

While Andros didn't necessarily feel the same way as Tommy, he chose to remain as impartial as possible for the sake of the group. "Regardless of the choices we make, we don't have the luxury of dwelling on them. We have to work with what we have, adapt where we can, and hope it's enough. So let's do that; let's make Pravus pay for what he's done."

"We will, Andros, in time," Kimberly replied, smiling confidently. "One way or another, Pravus is going down."

--


End file.
